Recent News Coverage

New York Post - NYC dentist Shunzo Ozawa talked ‘openly and graphically’ about rape: lawsuit

May 28, 2022 

You apparently don’t have to pull any teeth to get this Big Apple dentist to talk about his sex life.

Law360 - Black Diamond Nixed Job Offer Over Past Addiction, Suit Says

April 19, 2022

Private equity firm Black Diamond Capital Management LLC violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it revoked a job offer from a candidate at the last minute after he disclosed a previous struggle with opioid addiction, according to a suit filed Tuesday in New York federal court.

Law.com - Cuba Gooding Jr. Found Liable for Rape After Failing to Respond to Civil Suit

July 30, 2021

A Manhattan federal judge has found the Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. liable for allegedly raping a woman in a New York City hotel room in 2013, after the actor had "completely failed to engage" with a civil lawsuit for nearly a year.

LIHerald.com - Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg

September 24, 2020

On a chilly and somber Sunday, a small crowd gathered outside State Supreme Court in Garden City to remember the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died at age 87.

“She lived a life of purpose — a purpose for life that was dedicated to championing women’s rights,” said Mahir Nisar. “For somebody such as her who is an inspiration for so many attorneys and those who’ve advocated for civil rights, it’s a sad day, a sad moment to learn of her passing."

Courthouse News Service - Raped Twice: Woman Wants Damages From Cuba Gooding Jr.

August 18, 2020

Cuba Gooding Jr., the Academy Award winner indicted on several counts of forcible groping, was hit with a civil complaint Tuesday by a woman who says the actor raped her twice in his hotel room. Bringing her suit anonymously in New York’s Southern District, Jane Doe seeks a jury trial, as well as compensatory and punitive damages. She is represented by celebrity attorney Gloria Allred with Allred Maroko & Goldberg and by Casey Wolnowski with Nisar Law.

Westfair Communications - Hudson Valley Estate Caretaker Claims He Was Cheated Out of House and Salary for 7 Years

July 23, 2020

For seven years, David Frost claims, he has worked without pay as caretaker of an organic farm in the Hudson Valley. Now he wants his due.

Frost filed two lawsuits this month, accusing Emily Falencki and the Lentex Co. of breaking promises to give him the caretaker house and reimburse him for $382,922 in back pay and expenses. Frost is represented by Poughkeepsie attorney Allan B. Rappleyea in the Dutchess lawsuit, and by Manhattan attorney Casey Wolnowski in the federal case.

LIHerald.com - Carvel Manager Fired After Refusing Unmasked Patron

July 21, 2020

Thomas DeSarle, of Locust Valley, is without a job after he refused service to a Glen Cove Carvel customer who was not wearing a mask as he coughed and paid with cash dampened with perspiration. Mahir Nisar, an attorney with Nisar Law Group P.C., argues that this alleged incident could violate New York Labor Law title 740, which prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for refusing to take part in any activity that presents a substantial and specific danger to public health and safety.

“Due to the substantial and specific danger that Covid-19 poses to the public health and safety, an employee’s objection to, or refusal to participate in, the violation of New York’s Covid-19 quarantine order would arguably fall in this category and be protected against retaliation,” Nisar of Glen Head said.

LIHerald.com - Attorney From Glen Head Offers Free Legal Services to Arrested Protesters

June 23, 2020

On the same day Mahir Nisar, a civil rights attorney from Glen Head, marched along with thousands of protesters against police brutality through the neighborhoods of Glen Cove and Sea Cliff, he published a tweet offering free legal services to peaceful protesters that were arrested.

“I’m a Muslim,” said Nisar, of Nisar Law Group P.C. “I’ve experienced racism myself growing up in this country and in many ways and I’ve found a voice and in many ways I’ve been able to lend a voice to others in an effort to fight for their rights.”

Westfair Communications - Podiatrist Accuses St. Joseph’s Medical Practice in Yonkers of Failure to Foot Bill for Services

June 12, 2020

A podiatrist claims that St. Joseph’s Medical Practice in Yonkers has refused to pay for his services for more than a year.

Daniel P. White sued the medical practice June 3 in U.S. District Court in White Plains, demanding $95,512 for 2019 and an undetermined amount for this year, or at the very least, the minimum wage for his hours of service.

White “has not been paid anything for services performed in 2019 and 2020,” the lawsuit filed by Casey Wolnowski states, and he “remains suspended without pay and without the opportunity to treat patients and perform work for … St. Joseph’s.”

LIHerald.com - Black Lives Matter Protesters March Through the North Shore

June 8, 2020

Roughly 1,000 protesters flocked to the North Shore to protest police brutality on June 7, marching in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and victims of police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police.

“It’s great to see that there is so much diversity and there is so much representation amongst all,” said protester Mahir Nisar, of Glen Head. “It’s great to see white people here as well…It’s very supporting for the Black Lives Matter movement.”

Bloomberg - Philip Falcone Claims He Can’t Pay $60,000 Settlement, Former Chef Says

June 3, 2020

Brian Villanueva sued Philip Falcone and his wife in federal court in New York last year, claiming they created a hostile work environment in which he was mocked for his Asian heritage with stereotypical accents and jokes about eating dogs. Villanueva is a Filipino.

The parties agreed to settle the case, but the Falcones have made no payment, claiming they don’t have the funds, Villanueva said in a new lawsuit filed by Nisar Law Group P.C..

The Riverdale Press - How Could Legal Weed Affect Your Workplace?

February 16, 2020

While Gov. Andrew Cuomo has vowed to legalize marijuana, it is not fully clear what it would mean for the workplace. There is loose language in the bill that prohibits discrimination against recreational users, but the plant remains a Schedule 1 controlled substance at the federal level.

“There’s a lot of different things that are impacted by the bill as it currently stands,” said labor attorney Mahir Nisar, himself an advocate for cannabis legalization. “Institutions such as financial institutions don’t want to be involved with use of a federally banned substance under the law.”

Law360 - Marijuana Patient Not Interested in Settling Compass Suit

January 3, 2020

Attorney Casey Wolnowski, the counsel for a New York medical marijuana activist, told a federal judge that his client is unwilling to settle a suit claiming food services giant Compass Group USA Inc. unlawfully denied him employment after he tested positive for marijuana.

FOX Business - Wall Street Billionaire's Socialite Wife in Explosive Suit Name-Dropping Alicia Keys

November 7, 2019

Billionaire hedge fund boss Philip Falcone and his wife Lisa Falcone were hit with a federal lawsuit by a private chef who claimed they neglected to pay him in full and subjected the Filipino cook to workplace discrimination – including calling his black girlfriend a "chocolate-covered marshmallow," court papers show. Nisar Law Group P.C.

NY Daily News - Wife of Hamptons Hedge Funder Called Black Personal Chef ‘Chocolate-Covered Marshmallow,’ Said She Was More Articulate Than Alicia Keys: Suit

November 6, 2019

Lisa Falcone, the wife of fallen financial titan Philip Falcone, said that a black personal chef was more articulate than her own “black friends” Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz, according to the suit filed by Nisar Law Group P.C. in Manhattan Federal Court.

Chef Brian Villanueva charges that Lisa Falcone made the offensive remarks about his girlfriend, who is also a chef, after they cooked for a dinner party for 13 people that included Keys and Beatz. The wealthy woman, the chef says, is going to extraordinary lengths to keep the awkward exchange secret and refuses to pay his salary.

Bloomberg Law - Legal Medical Marijuana Patient Sues Over Revoked Job Offer

July 18, 2019

Food service company Compass Group USA and its Eurest Services unit unlawfully revoked a New York man’s job offer because he was an authorized medical marijuana patient, a new disability bias complaint alleges.

New York Post - Racism Runs Rampant at Long Island Aero Firm: Suit

November 15, 2017

A Long Island company that assembles parts for military and luxury aircraft is a hotbed of racism, a mechanic there claims. The worker, Luis William Lentino-Rodriguez, says he’d worked less than a month at CPI Aerostructures when he allegedly heard his first slur. That was four years ago, and the slurs, he claims, kept going from there. Lentino-Rodriguez is mulling a lawsuit, said attorney Mahir Nisar.