Prosecuting Majority-Group Discrimination Claims: Statute Selection, Damages, and the Closing Filing Window

Wally Zimolong, Founder | Zimolong LLC

Wally Zimolong is the founder of Zimolong LLC in Villanova, Pennsylvania. His practice concentrates on constitutional litigation, labor and employment matters, election law, and government investigations, and extends to high-stakes commercial disputes including bid protest litigation and construction defect claims. He has served as lead counsel in more than 500 matters and maintains an undefeated jury trial record.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Zimolong earned his Juris Doctor and his Bachelor of Arts from Villanova University. He is admitted in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey, and before the Supreme Court of the United States and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fifth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits. His federal district court admissions include the District of Columbia, the District of New Jersey, the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Pennsylvania, and the Northern and Southern Districts of Texas.

• Recognition & Leadership

Mr. Zimolong has been named to City & State Pennsylvania’s list of the Top 100 Lawyers in Pennsylvania and has been selected for Super Lawyers recognition in multiple consecutive years. His trial work produced one of the Top 100 verdicts in Pennsylvania in 2022.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Zimolong serves as an executive board member of the Republican National Lawyers Association and as chapter chair of its Southeastern Pennsylvania chapter. He is a member of the Federalist Society and of the Union League of Philadelphia.

• Experience

Mr. Zimolong’s election law work includes election day operations, ballot security, ballot access, postelection recounts, and strategic political consulting, and he has represented President Donald J. Trump and the Republican National Committee in election-related matters. His labor and employment practice encompasses labor relations and government investigations, and his commercial docket includes bid protest litigation and stucco defect claims.

P. Stewart Abney, Managing Partner | Abney Law Office, PLLC

P. Stewart Abney is the Managing Partner of Abney Law Office, PLLC in Louisville, Kentucky. He represents employees and individuals in employment and civil rights litigation, including claims of race, gender, age, disability, and religious discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful termination, wage and overtime claims, whistleblower retaliation, police misconduct, and violations of constitutional rights.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Abney earned his Juris Doctor with honors from the University of Louisville, Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, and his Bachelor of Arts in History from Centre College. He is admitted in all Kentucky courts, before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and in the United States District Courts for the Western District of Kentucky, the Eastern District of Kentucky, the Southern District of Indiana, and the District of Colorado.

• Recognition & Leadership

Mr. Abney’s trial results include the largest disability discrimination jury verdict in Kentucky, a judgment of $1,275,041.25 in Turner v. Norton Healthcare, Inc. (2018). He also obtained a $1,217,287.00 race discrimination verdict in Mattie L. Cohen v. Jewish Hospital (2008).

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Abney is a member of the Kentucky Bar Association, the Louisville Bar Association, the Kentucky Justice Association, the American Association for Justice, and the National Lawyers Guild.

• Experience

Mr. Abney litigates discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and unpaid wage claims on behalf of individual plaintiffs in Kentucky and neighboring federal districts. His recoveries include a judgment of $788,368.86 for unpaid wages in Isham v. Louisville-Metro Government (2020) and $277,666.22 in unpaid overtime in Anderson v. Nature’s Expressions Landscaping (2018), in addition to his seven-figure discrimination verdicts.

SESSION 1 – Statute Selection and Damages Strategy for the Majority-Group Discrimination Plaintiff | 2:30pm – 3:30pm

This session equips plaintiff-side employment attorneys with a practical framework for selecting the optimal federal and state statute when representing majority-group discrimination plaintiffs after the Supreme Court’s unanimous 2025 decision in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services. Attorneys will learn how to maximize damages exposure by layering Title VII, Section 1981, Section 1983, and state law claims—and how to avoid the procedural and pleading errors that cap recovery or forfeit claims entirely. By the end of the session, attendees will understand the post-Ames pleading standard, the statute-selection matrix by claim type, and the strategic filing decisions that determine whether a client’s recovery is capped at $300,000 or unlimited.

BREAK | 3:30pm – 3:40pm

SESSION 2 – Surviving Dismissal and Building the Pattern Record in Majority-Group Cases | 3:40pm – 4:40pm

This session covers the litigation mechanics a plaintiff’s attorney must master after Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services (2025): how to survive dismissal, navigate the McDonnell Douglas battleground at summary judgment, and construct a pattern record using DEI-related discovery. Attorneys will learn how to identify comparator evidence by circuit, deploy Muldrow’s lowered harm threshold for non-termination adverse actions, and use EEOC guidance and government litigation as a discovery roadmap. Attendees will leave with a working understanding of the specific evidentiary architecture needed to move a majority-group discrimination claim from complaint through summary judgment.