Employees often feel overwhelmed when involved in workplace disputes or when trying to assert their rights in the workplace. This is not unusual given the tremendous power differential that exists between employees and their employers. When employees are victimized by their employers because they blew the whistle on legal violations, reported discrimination or harassment, exercised a workplace right, or just because of who they are, they need a tough legal advocate in their corner to help even the playing field. I am passionate about standing up for workers’ rights and using effective legal strategy to help them achieve more just outcomes.
“I am passionate about standing up for workers’ rights and using effective legal strategy to help them achieve more just outcomes.”
A founder and partner at Katz Banks Kumin since 2007, Mr. Kumin has been successfully advising employees about their legal rights, resolving difficult situations with employers, and litigating employment claims in court for nearly twenty years. He practices in the areas of whistleblower protection, sexual harassment, sexual assault, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), disability, discrimination, retaliation, severance negotiations, contractual disputes, and other areas of employment law. He also represents employees in filing whistleblower reward tips with the federal government, such as False Claims Act ("qui tam") lawsuits and award tips submitted to the SEC, IRS, and CFTC.
For his outstanding legal work, Mr. Kumin has been selected by his peers for the 2012-2023 editions of The Best Lawyers in America® in the categories of “Employment Law - Individuals” and “Litigation - Labor and Employment” for the D.C. area, as well as "Civil Rights Law" since 2020, and named multiple times by both Washingtonian magazine and “Super Lawyers” magazine as one of the area’s top employment attorneys. Since 2011, Martindale-Hubbell has rated Mr. Kumin “AV Preeminent,” its highest possible peer review rating, and Lawdragon included Mr. Kumin in its list of the "Top Leading Plaintiff Attorneys for 2020." In 2021, Chambers and Partners recognized Mr. Kumin in Band 1 of employment plaintiff attorneys in Washington D.C. From 2013 to 2015, Mr. Kumin served as the Co-Chair of the D.C. Bar Association's Labor & Employment Section, and was elected by the Section’s members to serve on its Steering Committee from 2012 to 2015.
Mr. Kumin is the President-Elect of the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association, and also serves on the Executive Board. He has lectured about whistleblower retaliation claims, sexual harassment, discrimination, family medical leave, retaliation, religious harassment, wrongful discharge, equal pay laws, legal ethics, employee severance issues, SEC/IRS whistleblower tip awards, counterclaim defense, and litigation practice before the American Bar Association, the D.C. Bar Association, the National Employment Lawyers Association, the American Law Institute, Taxpayers Against Fraud, and employee and labor groups. A few years ago, at the invitation of the D.C. Office of Human Rights, Mr. Kumin helped provide training on a number of employment laws to over 500 District attorneys, human resource directors, managers, and employees.
Mr. Kumin has considerable experience successfully litigating cases in federal and state courts, in arbitration, and before administrative agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Merit Systems Protection Board. He is a member of the National Employment Lawyers Association, the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association, the American Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar Association, and the California Bar Association. Mr. Kumin received his law degree from Yale Law School and his undergraduate degree from Brandeis University. Following law school graduation, Mr. Kumin served as a law clerk for the Honorable Judge Tena Campbell, U.S. District Court for the District of Utah.
