Dawn V. Martin has twenty-sevn years of legal experience, all in civil rights, public service, teaching law and/or policy development. Ms. Martin has developed national policy in the areas of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEOC) Law and has published authoritative works on this subject. See Publications.
Ms. Martin has special expertise in EEO and other matters related to police and fire departments, as indicated by her article, "911: How Will Police and Fire Departments Respond to Public Safety Needs and the Americans with Disabilities Act?" Ms. Martin dedicated her article, to the memory of her father, Alfonzo Q. Martin, a former New York City police officer and firefighter. Ms. Martin has been employed by, or served as a consultant for, several police departments and/or law enforcement agencies.
Ms. Martin has served as: a trial attorney with the United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division (Honors Program); a trial attorney with the New York State Office of the Attorney General, Civil Rights Bureau; a trial attorney with the Legal Aid Society of New York, Civil Division (Bronx Office); Assistant General Counsel with the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department; and a Senior Attorney-Advisor and Special Assistant to Commissioner Tucker at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and served in a temporary appointment with United States Department of Agriculture as Acting Deputy General Counsel for Civil Rights.
Ms. Martin has also been a law professor, at both Howard University and Cleveland State University, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, teaching Equal Employment Law, Torts, Evidence and Race as a Factor in American Law. Ms. Martin set legal precedent in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, with her own personal litigation against Howard University. See discussion of Martin v. Howard University and Alice Gresham Bullock, under SexandWorkplaceViolence and MartinvHowardU. See also Chief Judge Hogan's precedent-setting decision in Martin v. Howard University,1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19516, 81 FEP Cases 964 (BNA), 15 IER Cases 1587 (D.D.C. 1999).
Education. Ms. Martin graduated from Barnard College, Columbia University (1978) and New York University School of Law (1981).
Philosophy of Law Practice. There had to be a Plessy v. Fergurson before there could be a Brown v. The Board of Education. Somebody had to file and lose General Electric v. Gilbert for Congress to amend Title VII to include The Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Americans working abroad for American companies had to lose Aramco v. Boursalan for Congress to pass The 1991 Civil Rights Act to assert Title VII jurisdiction over them. There had to be a Ledbetter v. Goodyear for Congress to propose the Lilly Ledbetter Act.
Ms. Martin said:
"Although we always want to win our cases, the act of standing up for what is right and for bringing attention to an important issue is necessary for change. I often have to remind myself that Jesus did not win in the courts -- but he won in the press! Sometimes you just have to stand up -- win or lose -- you stand up. It is the act itself that makes you a winner -- in the true sense of the word. If no one stands up against wrongdoing by powerful institutions, there will never be real change."
Family. Ms. Martin's daughter, Danielle Evans, is a writer. Ms. Evans has recently published three of her short stories in noted literary magazines, including "Harvest" in Phoebe (George Mason University's Literary Magazine), "Purple" in L Magazine and "Virgins" in the October 2007 issue of The Paris Review, sold in major bookstores. Ms. Evans has just signed a two book contract with Riverhead Publishing, which will publish her short story collection, Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self, in early 2009 and her novel, which is now in progress.
Ms. Evans is a 2004 graduate of Columbia College, Columbia University. She received her Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop in 2006. From August 2006 through May 2007, she was a Teaching Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, where she taught creative writing.
Ms. Evans uses activism and her writing talent to foster racial equality and understanding, as exhibited by her column, Re-Eduction, which ran bi-weekly in the Columbia University Newspaper, The Spectator while she was a college student..
Bar Membership. Ms. Martin is a member of the Bar in the following jurisdictions:
United States Supreme Court United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Bar of the District of Columbia United States District Court for the District of Columbia United States District Court for the District of Maryland Bar of the State of New York
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