Ms. Washienko is an experienced employment attorney who represents individuals and small business in a wide range of employment and compensation matters. These include the negotiation and enforcement of sophisticated employment, compensation and separation agreements, and the litigation of workplace-related claims, including the prosecution and defense of discrimination, non-competition and non-solicitation agreements.
She has consistently been recognized by Boston Magazine as one of the Top 50 Women Attorneys in Massachusetts, one of the Top 50 Women Attorneys in New England, one of the Top 100 Women in the Law in Massachusetts, and as a Super Lawyer in the field of Labor and Employment Law since 2008. Ms. Washienko has also been honored by Chambers and Partners USA as a notable practitioner in the field of Labor & Employment Law, Mainly Plaintiffs Representation, in 2019 they also acknowledged her as a “scholarly, tenacious, and excellent lawyer.” She has been honored with the same distinction for 2022 and 2023. Chambers also recognized Ms. Washienko as one of America’s Leading Lawyers for Business 2020: Massachusetts. In 2022, Ms. Washienko has also been recognized as a Circle of Excellence honoree for Lawyer’s Weekly’s “Top Women of Law” event.
A skilled negotiator, Ms. Washienko often counsels and represents executives and professionals in complex contract and severance negotiations. She also represents individuals and companies litigating claims of wrongful termination, employment discrimination, and breach of contract, among others. Ms. Washienko also regularly represents high school, college, and graduate students in a wide range of disputes with their academic institutions, including academic, disciplinary, discrimination/Title IX, and sports scholarship issues. In those areas, she has steered cases to successful (and, at times, precedent-setting) resolution in state and federal courts, governmental agencies, arbitration and mediation.
Ms. Washienko is an active member of the Boston Bar Association and currently serves as a member of its Women’s Leadership and Advancement Forum Advisory Committee. She has previously served as a member of its governing Council and as Co-Chair of the Steering Committee for the Labor & Employment Section. Ms. Washienko has also served as Employment Section Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Lesbian & Gay Bar Association and is a member of the Women’s Bar Association. She has co-authored numerous amicus curiae briefs in cases raising significant issues in the fields of employment discrimination and civil rights law. She is also active in continuing legal education and has served on the MCLE Employment & Labor Law Curriculum Advisory Committee and as co-chair and frequent panelist of MCLE seminars and conferences. A co-author of “Closing the Gender Pay Gap In Medicine: A Roadmap for Healthcare Organizations and the Women Physicians Who Work for Them,” she has also published several articles on employment law issues relevant to both companies and executives and she serves as a quarterly commentator for the Massachusetts Discrimination Law Reporter.
Ms. Washienko earned an A.B. with honors from Harvard University in 1988 and her J.D. with honors from Boston University School of Law in 1998. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
