Bio
Zachary J. Liszka, Esq. is an employee rights lawyer in Brooklyn, New York. He is a white-passing Alaska Native (Unangax̂) enrolled with the federally recognized Ninilchik Village Tribe.
He is a person with a disability (hemiparesis) and has faced employment discrimination on that basis (see charge of discrimination and finding of facts).
He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Alaska and a Juris Doctorate with a concentration in Litigation from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City.
He is the Vice-President of the New York Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association and also he served as an editor of the New York Employee Advocate. He is also a member of the Disability Rights Bar Association and the New York City Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.
Before law school, he worked at McDonald’s, Old Navy, as a bagger at a local supermarket, as a dish washer, as a construction worker, as a bartender, as a line cook, a telephonic credit union teller, and as a special education teaching assistant.
In 2011, he served as a Legal Observer with the National Lawyers Guild at the Occupy Wall Street encampment in Zuccotti Park.
Notable Cases
MONTALVO v. FLYWHEEL SPORTS, INC. (read complaint)(court filings)
Mr. Liszka filed a class action against a national indoor cycling chain on behalf of more than 600 class instructors, alleging that the chain required the instructors to work hours designing each class to be unique but only paid them for the time actually teaching the class.
SILK V. HCMC LEGAL INC. D/B/A HIRE COUNSEL, ET AL. (read complaint)(court filings)
Mr. Liszka filed an action in federal court against national law firm and legal staffing agency alleging that the firms refused, without substantive basis, to accommodate an attorney with a disability from reviewing documents remotely, but later mandated 100% remote work for all attorneys, including those without disabilities, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
BENZINGER v. NYSARC, INC. NEW YORK CITY CHAPTER and CBRE, INC. (read complaint)(court filings)
Building upon the federal Civil Rights Act of 1866, which gave formerly enslaved black people the right to contract freely “as enjoyed by white citizens”, Mr. Liszka filed first-of-its-kind claims of “hostile treatment” discrimination in a place of public accommodation then-operated by the largest real estate management company in the world and a national disabilty rights non-profit. The action accused a janitor and security guard of repeatedly uttering racial slurs at an Asian-American customer on multiple occasions. According to the complaint filed in federal court, the customer complained repeatedly, but was not taken seriously, requiring the Asian and Asian-supporting community to shame the companies on social media until they publically apologized.
AHAMED v. 563 MANHATTAN INC., 321 GRAHAM INC., D/B/A COTTER BARBER, and BRIAN BURNAM (read complaint)(court filings)
Mr. Liszka filed an action in federal court against owner of local chain of coffeeshops doing business as Cotter Barber in Brooklyn, New York. The lawsuit alleged that the owner, Brian Burnam, repeatedly molested a barista and called him “f*g” and “be gay, but less gay” in group text messages to the barista and a manager.
Mr. Liszka, along with co-counsel, filed a putative class action against one of New York City’s largest and oldest moving companies, the Padded Wagon, for allegedly engaging in a scheme to defraud its customers under the New York Consumer Fraud Act. The alleged scheme involved charging customers for the the cost of parking tickets incurred and then obtaining reimbursements for those same parking tickets from the City–in effect, the Padded Wagon profitted from violating the law, among other claims.
JUMPING EAGLE v. TRUMP (read complaint)(court filings)
Mr. Liszka, along with co-counsel, filed an intervenor action on behalf of indigenious water protectors. The action asserted that Donald Trump, in his individual capacity, unconstitutionally aided the construction of privately-owned pipeline over lands and waterways deeply tied to the most sacred belief systems of an entire group of people that have existed on those lands and waterways since time immemorial.
HEDGES v. OBAMA (lower court order)(order on appeal)
Mr. Liszka participated in the representation of Pulitizer Prize-winning journalist and minister Chris Hedges, Noam Chomsky, and Daniel Ellsberg, among others, who sought to void a section of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act which they claimed was enacted to expand the power of the executive branch to tamp down on political dissenters of its own choosing.
Bio
Zachary J. Liszka, Esq. is an employee rights lawyer in Brooklyn, New York. He is a white-passing Alaska Native (Unangax̂) enrolled with the federally recognized Ninilchik Village Tribe.
He is a person with a disability (hemiparesis) and has faced employment discrimination on that basis (see charge of discrimination and finding of facts).
He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Alaska and a Juris Doctorate with a concentration in Litigation from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City.
He is the Vice-President of the New York Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association and has served as an editor of its New York Employee Advocate. He is also a member of the Disability Rights Bar Association and the New York City Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.
Before law school, he worked at McDonald’s, Old Navy, as a bagger at a local supermarket, as a dish washer, as a construction worker, as a bartender, as a line cook, a telephonic credit union teller, and as a special education teaching assistant.
In 2011, he served as a Legal Observer with the National Lawyers Guild at the Occupy Wall Street encampment in Zuccotti Park.
Notable Cases
MONTALVO v. FLYWHEEL SPORTS, INC. (read complaint)(court filings)
Mr. Liszka filed a class action against a national indoor cycling chain on behalf of more than 600 class instructors, alleging that the chain required the instructors to work hours designing each class to be unique but only paid them for the time actually teaching the class.
SILK v. HCMC LEGAL, INC. D/B/A HIRE COUNSEL, ET AL. (read complaint)(court filings)
AHAMED v. 563 MANHATTAN INC., 321 GRAHAM INC. D/B/A COTTER BARBER, and BRIAN BURNAM (read complaint)(court filings)
Mr. Liszka filed an action in federal court against owner of local chain of coffeeshops doing business as Cotter Barber in Brooklyn, New York. The lawsuit alleged that the owner, Brian Burnam, repeatedly molested a barista and called him “f*g” and “be gay, but less gay” in group text messages to the barista and a manager.
Mr. Liszka, along with co-counsel, filed a putative class action against one of New York City’s largest and oldest moving companies, the Padded Wagon, for allegedly engaging in a scheme to defraud its customers under the New York Consumer Fraud Act. The alleged scheme involved charging customers for the the cost of parking tickets incurred and then obtaining reimbursements for those same parking tickets from the City–in effect, the Padded Wagon profitted from violating the law, among other claims.
BENZINGER v. NYSARC, INC. NEW YORK CITY CHAPTER and CBRE, INC. (read complaint)(court filings)
Building upon the federal Civil Rights Act of 1866, which gave formerly enslaved black people the right to contract freely “as enjoyed by white citizens”, Mr. Liszka filed first-of-its-kind claims of “hostile treatment” discrimination in a place of public accommodation then-operated by the largest real estate management company in the world and a national disabilty rights non-profit. The action accused a janitor and security guard of repeatedly uttering racial slurs at an Asian-American customer on multiple occasions. According to the complaint filed in federal court, the customer complained repeatedly, but was not taken seriously, requiring the Asian and Asian-supporting community to shame the companies on social media until they publically apologized.
JUMPING EAGLE v. TRUMP (read complaint)(court filings)
Mr. Liszka, along with co-counsel, filed an intervenor action on behalf of indigenious water protectors. The action asserted that Donald Trump, in his individual capacity, unconstitutionally aided the construction of privately-owned pipeline over lands and waterways deeply tied to the most sacred belief systems of an entire group of people that have existed on those lands and waterways since time immemorial.
HEDGES v. OBAMA (lower court order)(order on appeal)
Mr. Liszka participated in the representation of Pulitizer Prize-winning journalist and minister Chris Hedges, Noam Chomsky, and Daniel Ellsberg, among others, who sought to void a section of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, which they claimed was enacted to expand the power of the executive branch to tamp down on political dissenters of its own choosing.
© 2021 Zachary J. Liszka, Esq. 33 Nassau Avenue, Fl 2, Brooklyn, New York 347-762-5131 zach@employeelawyer.nyc