Vincent Quatrini, Founding Partner, Quatrini Law Group
Employment law and Workers’ Compensation law are key practice areas focused on protecting the rights of employees. While companies have a legal team to protect them, employees oftentimes are left to fend for themselves when it comes to getting the protection they need if they are injured or disabled as a result of a workplace accident. In an interview with Invest:, Vincent Quatrini, founding partner of the Quatrini Law Group, highlights the importance of workers’ rights law in today’s environment and the firm’s approach to protecting their clients.
What changes in the past year have impacted the firm, and in what ways?
Our firm has been in existence for more than 40 years, and we have focused on workers’ rights from the start. Throughout this time, we have been consolidating our skills so we can be as good as anyone in protecting individuals. We have expanded by adding different practice areas that cover injury, disability, and employment. We look at long-term trends. Over the last couple of years, we have added employment rights attorneys to the firm because we have found that when you are injured or disabled as a worker, your employer may not do what they are supposed to do in letting you continue to work.
They may retaliate against you because of your injuries, or fail to provide accommodations because of an injured worker’s restrictions. The American with Disabilities Act requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation for injured employees. Many employers are not aware of this obligation or do not carry it out properly, and that is where our employment lawyers come into the picture and hold the employer accountable. This is also true when a worker gets hurt and employers decide they do not want the employee any longer and fire them. If an employee is fired for illegitimate reasons, we can file for damages for retaliating against a hurt employee.
We also represent people who have served in the armed forces who have been injured during their service. We have a total of 20 attorneys and we are expanding our presence in Allegheny County.
What are some of the firm’s efforts geared towards community engagement and education?
One of our catchphrases is “clients first, community first.” Our attorneys volunteer for many nonprofits. We devote a considerable amount of time to giving back to the community with our time, talent, and money. We contribute to many nonprofit causes as well as teach other lawyers in the practice areas we excel in. We teach lawyers in workers’ compensation, social security disability, and other related areas. We take our expertise and train them when they handle those types of cases.
What is the firm’s approach to protecting employee rights?
Both the state and the federal government have laws to protect workers from harassment and discrimination. In a recent case that we worked on, we took the position that an employer had discriminated against our client by failing to accommodate the client’s disability. As a result of this failure, our client suffered a workplace injury that led to his death. We filed suit against the employer because our client asked for an accommodation and the employer refused the accommodation request – to move the employee to a different job. If the employer had moved him, the fatal accident would not have happened.
In our commitment to workplace justice, we felt that it was unjust that the employer was not accommodating our client and did not listen to the client’s concern. Because they did not accommodate his concerns, we filed suit to recover damages for his wife. Our attorney was highly successful in getting a settlement for the family under those circumstances.
What group of workers is the firm working with closely?
I have been representing coal miners for decades. When I first started representing them, it was because they were contracting black lung as a result of their work in the mines. Over the years, I began representing the coal miners for other workplace injuries. Coal mining is a very dangerous job. Over the years, laws have been passed to reduce coal dust exposure. However, the coal industry shifted from underground coal mining to above ground coal mining which exposes workers to silica from stone that is blasted as part of the mining process.
Above ground Silica has become more devastating for coal miners. As part of our due diligence, we provide assistance to coal miners who have been injured, or believe they are suffering residual illnesses as a result of working in the mines. The coal miners undergo examinations to determine if they are eligible for benefits because of their work in the coal mines. As coal miners are laid off, this is one of the ways we are assisting them, as well as helping them with the unemployment compensation process.
What are the firm’s goals and priorities in the coming years?
Our first priority is to continue to educate ourselves to be able to provide first-class representation to our clients. You can never stop learning and educating yourself. We are meeting with software companies to improve our use of artificial intelligence in our legal practice. The legal practice has been slow to embrace AI as lawyers are people of tradition. We recognize that we need to look ahead and invest in ourselves.
We are also expanding our niche practice areas. With the development of our new Pittsburgh office in the former Lidia restaurant building in the Strip District, we are excited about providing more opportunities for our clients as well as our staff. We are exploring some fun and interesting initiatives. This helps our clients be more comfortable. Finally, as we add additional staff, we want to make sure we maintain the high quality of our service to our clients.
