Rebecca Ojserkis is an associate in Cohen Milstein’s Civil Rights & Employment practice. With a background in social and clinical psychology—specifically stereotyping and post-traumatic stress—she litigates civil rights class and collective actions and mass arbitrations.
Prior to joining the firm, Rebecca worked at the ACLU, where she litigated cases with the organization’s Women’s Rights Project, Immigrants’ Rights Project, and National Prison Project. Rebecca was also an associate at a national plaintiffs’ law firm, where she worked on employment discrimination cases, gender-based violence, and other civil rights matters.
Before practicing, Rebecca clerked for the Honorable Diane P. Wood of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the Honorable Sidney H. Stein of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
During law school, Rebecca served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal and engaged in litigation and advocacy as a member of the Veterans Legal Services Clinic, the Reproductive Rights and Justice Project, and the Liman Project.
- Fellow, ACLU (Women’s Rights, Immigrants’ Rights, and National Prison Projects)
- Program Coordinator, Massachusetts General Hospital (Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorders)
- Research Coordinator, Massachusetts General Hospital (Home Base: Veteran and Family Care)
- District of Columbia
- Maryland
- New York
- Yale Law School, J.D., 2017
- Amherst College, B.A., magna cum laude, 2012
- Law Clerk, the Hon. Sidney H. Stein, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (2018 – 2019)
- Law Clerk, the Hon. Diane P. Wood, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (2017 – 2018)
Current Cases
Amazon Flex Driver Mass Arbitration
Amazon Flex Driver Arbitrations (AAA): Cohen Milstein represents thousands of current and former Amazon Flex delivery drivers in California, Illinois and Massachusetts who allege that Amazon misclassified them as independent contractors instead of employees to avoid paying them overtime or reimbursing for expenses, and to deny them other benefits under these states’ laws. These cases are currently being litigated before the American Arbitration Association.
Bird, et al. v. Garland
Bird, et al. v. Garland (D.D.C.): Cohen Milstein represents a certified class action of 34 current and former female FBI agents, who claim they suffered systemic gender discrimination and subsequent termination from the FBI’s Basic Training program for new agents. The women bring their claims of disparate treatment and disparate impact under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. On October 16, 2024, the court granted preliminary approval of a $22.6 million settlement against the FBI.
Ndugga v. Bloomberg, L.P.
Ndugga v. Bloomberg, L.P. (S.D.N.Y.): Cohen Milstein represents a putative class of women who work or worked as reporters, producers, and editors at Bloomberg Media, and who allege that they were subjected to gender-based pay and promotion discrimination at the company.
Salvation Army ARC Unpaid Wages Litigation
Salvation Army ARC Unpaid Wages Litigation: Cohen Milstein represents participants in Salvation Army's adult rehabilitation centers (ARC), who perform labor in support of the organization as a condition of their enrollment, in three lawsuits alleging that The Salvation Army violated federal and state laws when it failed to pay minimum wage to ARC workers.
November 16, 2024
Rebecca Ojserkis Speaks on Discovery Issues in Arbitration
Rebecca Ojserkis, an associate in our Civil Rights & Employment practice, will speak on the panel, “Discovery Issues in Arbitration” on Saturday, November 16. Panelists will review how parties obtain discovery in arbitration, including the scope of discovery, available forms, impact of different statutory and arbitration tribunal rules, including mandatory disclosures and differences between labor […]
Events | ABA 18th Annual Labor & Employment Law Conference
September 30, 2024
Women FBI Agent Trainees Vindicated: $22.6M Gender Discrimination Settlement Reached
U.S. Dept. of Justice Office of Inspector General’s 2022 Report Confirmed Claims of Gender Discrimination Women Who Were Dismissed from Agent Training May Be Eligible to Reenter the Program WASHINGTON, DC – Representatives of a proposed class of thirty-four women dismissed from the FBI’s agent training program filed a motion for preliminary approval of a […]
Press Releases | Cohen Milstein
June 18, 2024
1,700 Bay Area Delivery Workers Join Mass Arbitration Claim Against Amazon
Saman Khodaei said that delivering packages for Amazon as part of its DoorDash-like Flex program was stressful. The company gave him a set number of packages to deliver in a block of time, he said — noon to 2 p.m., for example. But any number of things could and did delay his deliveries — traffic, […]
In the News | San Francisco Examiner
June 11, 2024
Amazon Flex Drivers File Thousands of Wage & Hour Actions Against Amazon
More than 15,750 individual claims filed simultaneously against Amazon, alleging drivers were misclassified as independent contractors. Lawyers continue to sign up other misclassified drivers to participate in arbitration. San Francisco, CA – Today, more than 15,750 Amazon Flex drivers in California, Illinois and Massachusetts deluged Amazon, the e-commerce and delivery giant, with individual wage and […]
Press Releases | Cohen Milstein
July 25, 2023
Bloomberg Can’t Narrow Ex-Producer’s Pay Bias Suit
A New York federal judge denied Bloomberg LP’s bid Tuesday to ax pay discrimination claims from a former news producer’s proposed class action claiming hundreds of female employees were systematically underpaid, saying she provided enough detail to sustain her lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods rejected Bloomberg’s bid to toss Naula Ndugga’s individual and […]
In the News | Law360
March 14, 2023
Salvation Army Must Face Rehab Program Participants’ Wage Suit
Workers sufficiently alleged they were employees Challenge to willfulness allegations also fails The Salvation Army lost its bid to throw out allegations it owes vulnerable people who live and work in its adult rehabilitation centers minimum and overtime wages. The workers—who say they receive $7 to $25 per week in cash, along with room and […]
In the News | Bloomberg Law
April 21, 2022
To Close Pay Gaps, Laws Must Shift Burden to Employers
The persistent gender- and race-based pay gaps have many contributors. A recurring culprit is employers’ reliance on candidates’ prior inequitable pay, a phenomenon known as “start low, stay low.” Another is applicants’ lack of information about what the job should pay. While some have placed the onus on underpaid employees to cure inequities through increased […]
Articles | Law360 Employment Authority