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Atoyia Harris

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Atoyia Harris is Senior Counsel in Proskauer’s Labor and Employment Law Department, Co-Chair of the Black Lawyer Affinity Group, and a member of the Women’s Alliance Steering Committee. She represents employers in all aspects of employment law, including litigation, counseling, compliance, and workplace investigations.

With over a decade of experience, Atoyia provides strategic guidance to help clients manage workplace crises and achieve favorable outcomes in complex, high-stakes disputes. She has successfully defended employers in cases across jurisdictions and forums at both the trial and appellate levels. Atoyia is recognized by Chambers USA as “Up and Coming” and by The Legal 500 for her work, reflecting her leadership and expertise in employment law.

Leveraging her litigation background, she also advises clients on risk mitigation, helping to prevent issues before they escalate. Atoyia regularly conducts investigations and trainings on discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and other employment-related matters, and counsels employers on employment and separation agreements, reductions-in-force, WARN Act compliance, workplace policies, and DEI initiatives.

An active leader in the legal community, Atoyia serves as Chair of the Employment Law Committee for the International Association of Defense Counsel, Chair of the Young Lawyers Board for the Federal Bar Association’s New Orleans Chapter, and Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee for the Defense Research Institute (DRI). She has also served as President of the Vernon Crawford Bay Area Bar Association and on the Executive Board of the Greater New Orleans Louis A. Martinet Society.

Atoyia earned her J.D. with an International Law Certification from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where she served on the Moot Court Board and the Loyola Law and Technology Journal. She also clerked for the Honorable Jay C. Zainey of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana and the Honorable Robin Giarrusso of the Orleans Parish Civil District Court. She was a member of the award-winning Robert F. Wagner Labor and Employment Moot Court Team.

Before law school, Atoyia received her Bachelor of Music in Industry Studies (classical piano emphasis) from Loyola University New Orleans, where she was also a member of the women’s basketball team.

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On April 19, 2024, the EEOC published its final rule regarding the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”). The PWFA requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees or candidates with a known limitation related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions absent undue hardship.

The final rule effectively tracks the proposed rule, which…

In Harris v. FedEx Corp. Servs., Inc., No. 23-2003, a Fifth Circuit panel vacated a $365 million punitive damages award in race discrimination and retaliation case, finding that the plaintiff Jennifer Harris (“Harris”) failed to show that Fedex Corporate Services, Inc. (“Fedex”) acted with malice or reckless indifference when it terminated her for poor…

On August 18, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit expanded the types of employment actions that may constitute “adverse employment action” under Title VII in Hamilton v. Dallas Cnty., 5th Cir. en banc. No. 21-10133, 8/18/23. Overruling its nearly 30-year precedent that actionable employment actions under Title VII must relate to “ultimate employment decisions,” the Fifth Circuit held that a plaintiff need only show that they were discriminated against with respect to hiring, firing, compensation, or the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, even if such actions were not ultimate employment actions.

On March 31, 2022, a Kentucky jury unanimously awarded $450,000 to an employee, who was terminated following two panic attacks the employee suffered at work. The jury concluded the employee’s anxiety disorder was a disability and that the employee suffered an adverse action because of his disability.

Brief Background

In Berling v. Gravity Diagnostics, LLC…