Zoe Salzman

• Won a $10 million jury verdict (consisting of a $7.5 million in compensatory damages and $2.5 million in punitive damages) in the MeToo rape case of Breest v. Haggis. Read more about the case here.
• Argued and won a landmark victory on the New York City Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law in Breest v. Haggis.

• Obtained a settlement of $8.25 million in Scott v. Pritchett, et al., a wrongful conviction case alleging Detroit Police Department officers coerced and falsified witness statements and suppressed evidence, resulting in the plaintiff being wrongfully incarcerated for nearly twenty years for a murder he did not commit. Read more about the case here.

• Represented one of the women interviewed in the Attorney General’s investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against Governor Andrew Cuomo.

• Litigated a sexual harassment lawsuit in the New York City Commission on Human Rights to bypass an arbitration clause. The case alleged that the plaintiff was “subjected to an astounding barrage of groping and sexually explicit and derogatory comments, texts, emails, and signs by her boss.” Read more about the case here and here.

• Obtained a $6 million settlement for the family and estate of Tamir Rice in a civil lawsuit against the City of Cleveland for the shooting death of Tamir Rice, a 12 year-old boy, who was killed by Cleveland police. Winston, et al. v. City of Cleveland, et al., No. 14 Civ. 02670 (N.D. Ohio). Read more about the case here. Watch an interview with Zoe Salzman on MSNBC here. Read Ms. Salzman’s op-ed calling for a federal investigation here.

• Filed a groundbreaking class action lawsuit challenging the Tampon Tax in New York State, which prompted the legislature to vote to eliminate the tax. Seibert, et al. v. N.Y. State Dep’t of Taxation and Finance, et al., Index No. 181500/2016 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cnty.).  Read an interview with Ms. Salzman on the case here. Read more about the case here and here.

• Examined and cross-examined witnesses on behalf of a bank and real estate development company in a four-week trial involving a commercial lease dispute in federal court against Home Depot.  Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. v. G&S Investors/Willow Park L.P. et al., No. 98 Civ. 6719 & 00 Civ. 0676 (E.D.N.Y.).

• Secured a favorable settlement on behalf of the Committee to Save Cooper Union in a case challenging the decision to charge tuition at The Cooper Union as incompatible with the intentions of Peter Cooper and the trust he established to fund the school. The Committee to Save Cooper Union, Inc., et al. v. Board of Trustees of the Cooper Union, et al., Index No. 155185/2014 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cnty.). Read more here.

• Obtained a $3.5 million settlement for the twelve named plaintiffs in Nunez v. New York. This class action suit was brought by ECBAWM together with the Legal Aid Society’s Prisoners’ Rights Project on behalf of inmates at Rikers Island who were severely injured by correctional officers and to make systemic changes to halt the excessive violence plaguing the jail there. Nunez, et al. v. New York , et al., No. 11 Civ. 5845 (S.D.N.Y.).  Read more here and here.

• Secured a $4.48 million settlement on behalf of five Jewish children who were the victims of repeated anti-Semitic bullying in the Pine Bush School District. In addition to the monetary damages, the sweeping settlement requires significant reform to policies, training and the tracking of anti-Semitic incidents, all under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Education. T.E., et al. v. Pine Bush Central School District, et al., No. 12 Civ. 2303 (S.D.N.Y.). Read more about the case here and here.

Zoe Salzman & Billy Joe Mills, Opinion: Tamir Rice Deserves Justice. The Biden Administration Could Finally Deliver It (Washington Post, Jan. 21, 2021), available here.

Zoe Salzman, Alanna Kaufman, Elizabeth Saylor, Opinion: Another Venue for Sexual Harassment Claims (New York Times, Oct. 31, 2017), available here.

Report, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, Rights Within Reach: Securing Human Rights and Equality in Nepal’s New Constitution (New York: NYU School of Law, 2010).

Armed Groups in Peace Processes: Who Gets a Seat at the Negotiating Table?, IILJ Emerging Scholars Paper 10 (2008), available here.

“The Tangled Web”: The Right of Self-Defense against Non-State Actors in the Armed Activities Case, 40 N.Y.U. J. INT’L L. & POL. 53 (2008).

Note, Private Military Contractors and the Taint of a Mercenary Reputation, 40 N.Y.U. J. INT’L L. & POL. 853 (2008).