Correia & Puth attorneys and clients were prominently featured in the National Employment Lawyers Association’s 2025 Annual Convention, held from June 25 to 28, 2025, in Baltimore, Maryland. On June 26, 2025, Correia & Puth client Diana Portillo Medrano received NELA’s Courageous Plaintiff Award, which honors plaintiffs who exhibited extraordinary bravery in standing up to their employers in the face of illegal employment practices. In her remarks, Ms. Portillo Medrano spoke about how her attorneys empowered her throughout her legal battle for justice, in which she prevailed on claims of gender identity discrimination and retaliation after an eight-day trial. Correia & Puth attorneys Jonathan C. Puth and Andrew M. Adelman, who represented Ms. Portillo Medrano, introduced her and spoke about her bravery, courage, and resilience.
Later that day, Correia & Puth Partner Subha Bollini moderated a panel discussion with former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) General Counsel Karla Gilbride, Merit Systems Protection Board Chair Cathy Harris, EEOC Commissioner Kalpana Kotagal, and Former Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. In the panel, these current and former government leaders highlighted their wins while in government service and discussed their visions for the future of workers’ rights.
On June 27, 2025, Correia & Puth Partner Andrew Adelman moderated a panel titled, “Lessons for Employment Lawyers from Anti-Trans Cases in Other Areas of Law,” with speakers Joseph Wardenski, Lauren A. DiMartino, and Auden Perino. The panel addressed litigation to protect and advance transgender rights, such as in healthcare, education, and prisons, and discussed lessons to be learned in those cases and applied in the employment context.
