Call of duty

Sarasota attorney Sara Blackwell, with a specialty in insurance, personal injury defense and employment law, read a stunning story in the New York Times in early June 2015.
Dozens of Orlando-based Disney employees were allegedly laid off and their jobs were shifted to immigrants holding temporary visas, according to the story. Even more stunning: Some employees, the story states, were required to train their replacements to do the jobs from which they had just been booted.

“I thought, 'Wow, that's a discrimination case if I've ever seen one,'” Blackwell says. “This is horrible. It's as if American workers have become second-class citizens.”

Blackwell called the reporter and asked if any of the people laid off had an attorney. She left her name and contact information. An hour later she received a call from one of the former employees, who worked in IT. “I immediately took his case at no cost,” Blackwell says.