Profile

Deb is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Maryland School of Law, but she continues as Of Counsel to Brown, Goldstein & Levy.

Deb Eisenberg is a zealous advocate on behalf of her clients in labor and employment matters and ground-breaking complex civil and appellate litigation matters in state and federal courts.

Deb provides counseling and advice about employee rights under state and federal employment laws. She helps executives negotiate severance and contract terms, files large wage and hour cases to protect employees' rights to overtime and fair pay, and advocates for employees in whistleblower, discrimination, contract, and compensation matters. Deb also advises employers how to devise practical solutions to workplace issues, comply with employment laws and avoid litigation. In addition to her employment work, Deb has successfully represented victims of child sexual abuse and served as counsel in landmark class action litigation.

Deb has achieved many significant victories on behalf of her clients, including a $15 million jury verdict on behalf of a victim of child sexual abuse, and a jury verdict of double the amount of severance owed to two executives who were denied promised severance pay. She has extensive experience in collective and class actions. In Heath v. Perdue Farms, 87 F. Supp. 2d 452 (D. Md. 2000), she was lead counsel in a collective action lawsuit that recovered $1.7 million in unpaid overtime wages, plus fees, and served as a catalyst for unionization of the workers. She has represented bus drivers denied overtime pay and not paid for all hours worked. She was part of the legal team that struck down a "trespass policy" that interfered with the right of public housing tenants to have guests (Diggs v. Housing Authority, 67 F. Supp. 2d 522 (D. Md. 1999)) and the team that sought to establish a right to counsel for indigent civil litigants under the Maryland Declaration of Rights (Frase v. Barnhart, 379 Md. 100 (2003)).

Deb has served as President of the Maryland Employment Lawyers Association and on the Section Council of the Labor & Employment Section of the Maryland State Bar Association since 2004. She was a member of the Greater Baltimore Committee Leadership Class of 2006. She serves on the Advisory Committee for the Women's Law Center Employment Law Hotline. During the Fall of 2007, Deb was a Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Maryland School of Law.

A 1994 graduate of Yale Law School, Deb was an editor of the Yale Law Journal, an editor of the Yale Law & Policy Review, a Supervising Student in the Poverty Clinic, and a Trial Director for the Barristers' Union.

Prior to joining Brown, Goldstein & Levy, Deb worked for more than six years at the Public Justice Center, a non-profit legal organization in Baltimore. She served as Director of the PJC's Appellate Advocacy Clinic and also litigated impact cases on behalf of low-wage workers, individuals with disabilities, tenants, and other underrepresented persons. Prior to the PJC, Deb worked for two years as an associate at Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver, where she litigated commercial, construction, employment, and health law matters.

Practice Areas

Employment Law, Appeals

Education

• Yale Law School, J.D., 1994
• University of Maryland Baltimore County, B.A. summa cum laude, valedictorian, 1991

Representative Cases

Overtime Collective Actions

• Heath v. Perdue Farms, 87 F. Supp. 2d 452 (D. Md. 2000), Deb served as lead counsel in case that recovered a total of $2.4 million in overtime pay and fees on behalf of low-wage poultry workers.
• Lead counsel in a collective action on behalf of hundreds of bus drivers denied overtime pay and compensation for all hours worked.
• Lead counsel in several collective actions on behalf of poultry plant workers forced to work off-the-clock without compensation.

Severance and Bonus Pay

• In 2007, Deb won a jury trial on behalf of two executives who were denied promised severance pay and bonuses. The jury awarded two times the amount of severance and bonus owed, plus the right to seek their attorneys' fees and costs from the employer.
• Deb has successfully negotiated severance terms and compensation disputes for many executive and high-level employees. Her clients appreciate her practical advice and creative solutions to employment contract and separation issues.

Whistleblower

• Deb has represented employees who experienced retaliation after reporting potential securities law violations in Sarbanes-Oxley matters.

Discrimination

• Deb has represented women executives in equal pay matters and numerous employees who have experienced egregious unlawful discrimination.

Appellate Victories

• Williams v. Housing Authority established that tenants may litigate warranty of habitability claims together with rent escrow claims in District Court, giving tenants a powerful tool to force landlords to repair substandard conditions in their home, 361 Md. 143, 760 A.2d 697 (2000).
• In re Norberto C. held that the trial court erred in denying a hearing to a child with a disability threatened with removal from the home of his foster mother of six years, 133 Md. App. 558, 758 A.2d 637 (2000).
• Deb has drafted numerous amicus curiae briefs on behalf of legal services and community organizations in state and federal courts.

Public Interest and Impact Litigation

• Diggs v. Housing Authority struck down a trespass policy that interfered with the right of public housing tenants to have guests, 67 F. Supp. 2d 522 (D. Md. 1999).
• Reid v. Glendening compelled the Circuit Court for Baltimore City to make its services and facilities accessible to people with disabilities.
• Smith v. Flanagan resulted in significant improvements to the Maryland paratransit system for people with severe disabilities.