Top Rated Business & Corporate Attorney in New Orleans, LA

Honors/Awards:

• Award for the associate that earned the highest number of pro bono hours in the calendar year.  Achieved after over 100 hours of work on probono matters for the past five years, The Dermot S. McGlinchey Commitment to Pro Bono Award, 2015
• Associate to Watch, Chambers, 2015

Special Licenses/Certifications:

• Louisiana Licensed Title Producer

Bar/Professional Activity:

• Board Member, Former President of Women in Public Finance, Louisiana Chapter

Pro bono/Community Service:

• Member, Former Vice President, Morris Jeff Community School Board, helping to transform public education in the City of New Orleans, 2014

Scholarly Lectures/Writings:

• Amanda has written the only study guide for lawyers sitting for the Louisiana state title producer examination.  The Study Guide, along with an abstracting primer, has helped hundreds of lawyers break into the Louisiana title insurance industry, Member, Louisiana Land Title Institute, Title Insurance

Verdicts/Settlements:

• Settlement of Minority Shareholder claim for Buy-Out of client's shares in a family owned corporation for $1,100,000, 2017
• We won a substantial settlement for our client in the following case, including $100,000 in back pay and judicial interest: Case No. 19-4140 (E.D. La. Aug. 28, 2020) illustrates that when a past victim lodges a complaint against a sexual harasser, the sexual harasser’s future victims can hold the employer liable for the sexual harassment they endure because the employer failed to take effective remedial action to prevent the future harassment. Employee Alleges Unwanted Sexual Touching In our case, Nigil Dowdell (Dowdell), our client, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her former employee, Culpepper & Associates Security Services, Inc. (Culpepper), pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII). Title VII makes sexual harassment in the workplace an unlawful employment practice. Dowdell alleged and proved that Culpepper was liable for the hostile work environment sexual harassment she experienced because the company should have anticipated that she would become a victim of sexual harassment yet failed to take action reasonably calculated to prevent such harassment. From March 2018 until July 2018, Dowdell was employed by Culpepper as a security officer at the New Orleans Veterans Hospital. On June 5, 2018, she was at work when her shift supervisor, Assad, put his hands between her legs and groped her.  After the incident occurred, Dowdell reported the incident on June 11, 2018 to Culpepper’s office administrator. After Dowdell reported the incident, Assad was fired on June 12, 2018. During the litigation, Dowdell offered testimony from another Culpepper employee, Thompson, regarding Assad’s prior sexual behavior in the workplace. Thompson testified that she was sexually harassed by Assad on more than one occasion and that she reported the sexual behavior to her supervisors. Thompson also testified that no one talked to her about Assad’s sexual behavior after she lodged her complaint. Thus, Thompson’s testimony reflected that Culpepper never investigated her sexual harassment complaint against Assad. Failure To Protect Future Sexual Harassment Victim Culpepper filed a motion with the trial court seeking dismissal of Dowdell’s sexual harassment claim. In doing so, Culpepper argued that it was not liable for Assad’s sexual touching of Dowdell because it took prompt and effective remedial action upon receiving Dowdell’s sexual harassment complaint by immediately firing Assad. By immediately firing Assad, Culpepper maintained, the company complied with its Title VII obligation to protect Dowdell from any further sexual harassment from Assad. The trial court denied Culpepper’s motion for dismissal and ruled that whether Culpepper took prompt and effective remedial action upon learning of Assad’s sexual harassment of Dowdell was an issue to be decided at the bench trial, not an issue to be decided by the trial court as a matter of law. In denying Culpepper’s motion for summary judgement, the trial court pointed out that “by just looking at this one incident” regarding Assad’s sexual touching of Dowdell, it would “appear that [Culpepper] took prompt remedial action” in compliance with Title VII. However, the trial court explained that employers have an affirmative duty under Title VII to protect employees from future harassment by the same harasser and remedy the situation of the harasser as a sexual harasser, not simply remedying the situation of the harasser as a sexual harasser of the present victim. In applying this principle, the trial court observed that Culpepper should have anticipated that Dowdell would become a victim of Assad’s sexual harassment because Thompson had previously lodged a sexual harassment complaint against Assad. Despite having actual knowledge of Assad’s sexual behavior in the workplace, the trial court noted, Culpepper failed to investigate Thompson’s complaint or take any remedial action in response to Thompson’s complaint. Because Culpepper had actual knowledge of the previous incidents of sexual harassment involving Assad, the trial court concluded that it was for the jury to decide whether Culpepper acted appropriately in light of that knowledge to prevent the subsequent sexual harassment of Dowdell. Verdict in Favor of the Plaintiff At the bench trial of the matter, the Judge ruled in favor of Nigil Dowdell, finding that she had been sexually harassed and then retaliated against for making the complaint, after Culpepper had  changed her work schedule and then subsequently fired her for not reporting on days that she was scheduled for when the company knew she could not work., 2020

Transactions:

• Lender's Counsel to IBERIABANK in connection with its purchase of $10,200,000 Louisiana Local Government Environmental Facilities and Community Development Authority, Revenue Refunding Bonds (Ragin' Cajun Facilities, Inc. - Baseball Stadium Project), Series 2017, 2017
• Counsel to a New Market Tax Credit Project Borrower (QALICB) and transaction advice and structuring in connection with the exit of the NMTC investor and the put of its interest to an affiliate of the Project Borrower., 2016
• Counsel to Lender of Record and Co-Underwriter's Counsel in connection with the offerring of $25,000,000 in USDA guaranteed corporate bonds issued to build a bio-succinic acid manufacturing facility in Lake Providence, Louisiana, 2011

Representative Clients:

• Represented an investment advisor in an employment matter in a FINRA arbitration dispute.
• Rebar Interactive, LLC.  We provide general counsel and legal advice services to a company providing technical services relating to clinical trials., 2020
• The Ruby Slipper Cafe, LLC
• Human Resources and Employment Counsel to Virdia B2X, LLC, a bio-sugar refining plant, 2015
• IBERIABANK, as purchaser of private placement municipal bonds., 2015
• Hotel Indigo, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2015

Educational Background:

• Louisiana State University, Baron Rouge, Louisiana. BA in Journalism and Speech Communications, 2000