Our Washington, DC Office

Sanford Heisler Sharp's Washington, DC office provides world-class legal representation to clients in employment law matters in Washington and throughout the country.

Our Practice Areas

The work we do in Washington, DC has the potential to have a far-reaching national impact. We are committed to representing employees who have some association with the federal government, as well as businesses and corporations based in Washington. We also collaborate closely with other Sanford Heisler Sharp offices across the country.

We provide representation in the following areas:

• Employment discrimination: We are mindful of our clients’ career goals and need for privacy and discretion throughout the legal process, whether they have experienced discrimination on the basis of age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, or membership in any other protected class.
• Criminal sexual violence: Long-held secrets in various institutions sometimes come to light, exposing the criminal sexual acts of people in authority roles. We have handled cases involving criminal sexual violence in private and public schools in the DC area, in the Merchant Marines, and in other organizations and institutions. We advocate for the vulnerable and strive for justice to help ensure that these horrendous acts do not occur elsewhere in the future.
• Whistleblower/qui tam: Washington, DC is the center of the whistleblower universe because the government agencies that enforce the False Claims Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, and the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 are headquartered in the District of Columbia. Consequently,, the primary whistleblower support organizations, like Taxpayers Against Fraud, are also located in DC Being in Washington gives us unique visibility and access to navigate complex whistleblower claims in this ever-changing landscape.

About Our Washington, DC Office

Managing Partner of the DC Office and Co-Ombudsperson Vincent McKnight Jr. is a second-generation native of Washington, DC and has spent most of his life and career in the city. As Co-Chair of Sanford Heisler Sharp's Whistleblower and Qui Tam Practice Group, Vince represents corporate whistleblowers who have exposed government contract procurement fraud, banking misconduct, securities fraud, and other corporate malfeasance.

Vince is on the board for Taxpayers Against Fraud and regularly appears on panels on whistleblower issues for the American Bar Association.

Our DC office Co-Managing Partner, Saba Bireda, focuses on civil rights and employee rights on behalf of individuals and classes. As Co-Chair of the firm’s Discrimination and Harassment Practice Group, Saba litigates high-profile cases of race and gender discrimination in pay, hiring and promotions. She was part of the senior political staff at the U.S. Department of Education, including two years in the Office for Civil Rights, during the Obama Administration.

Office Location

Our office is located in the heart of Washington, DC We are approximately six blocks from the Capitol, the Library of Congress and the Rayburn Building. We are directly across the street from the Eastern Market and the Eastern Market subway station.

We are close to Restaurant Row as well as to restaurants and attractions on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Many of our clients are government and corporate employees who may not be able to take time off of work to discuss an employment-related legal matter. We often meet before or after typical working hours.

Notable Cases

• $50 million settlement in a whistleblower and qui tam lawsuit brought under the False Claims Act on behalf of the former Director of Contracts at Navistar who alleged the company forged catalogue prices and other data in overcharging the Department of Defense as a contractor for Mine Resistant, Ambush-Protected Vehicles (MRAP).
• Represented the former Executive Vice President and Chief Security Officer of Wells Fargo who assisted the OCC, SEC, and DOJ to recover $3.5 billion in fines and penalties arising out of the “fake account” scandal.
• In a case against the DOJ, currently represent a certified class of Black marshals and candidates for deputy U.S. Marshals positions who have experienced systemic inequity in hiring, promotions and assignments at the U.S. Marshals service dating back to 1994.
• $10 million settlement in an Equal Pay Act gender discrimination case brought on behalf of hundreds of former female employees against Big Four accounting firm KMPG.

COVID-19 Protocols

The health and safety of our clients and employees is top priority. Many of our meetings with clients are done via Zoom or Microsoft Teams, so there is no need to come into our office building.

However, when in-person meetings occur, we have large, spacious conference rooms that allow for social distancing. We also typically wear masks in the office and can certainly do so for client meetings.

Contact Us to Get Started

At Sanford Heisler Sharp in Washington, DC, we provide legal representation, advocacy, and support to those living and working in the city. Please contact our office to find out how we can specifically help you.

Testimonials

“Exceeded Our Expectations”

We retained Mr. McKnight to represent us in a qui tam matter against one of our competitors that we suspected was violating the federal government contracting guidelines and certifications. The efficiency with which our claim was filed, heard and settled exceeded our expectations, and we wouldn’t hesitate to utilize his expertise if the need ever arose again.  – Malcolm Wilson, Perry & Wilson, Inc.

“Expertise and Thorough Preparation”

Your attention to every detail really lifted the burden of this whole ordeal for me and I am extremely grateful to Saba and her team. I’d also like to add that the expertise and thorough preparation this team brought to the table gave me complete confidence that we’d reach a desirable outcome. … I am extremely grateful to have worked with all of you through what was easily the most difficult experience in my career. – Former client and associate at AM Law 100 firm.