12 / 24
12 © 2016 Winston & Strawn LLP
LGBT ADVOCACY
Washington TeamWins DischargeUpgrade for Air Force Serviceman
Discharged After Interrogation About His Sexual Orientation
Associates
Alex Kaplan
and
Stephen Migala
secured a discharge upgrade for a
former Air Force mechanic released from the service in 1986 on the basis of his
sexual orientation. When confronted by his supervisor about his sexual orientation,
the client confirmed he was gay. Thereafter, he was subjected to a grueling
interrogation by an Air Force investigative officer regarding his personal and sexual
history dating back to his childhood. As a result of this harsh treatment, he began to
suffer from severe depression and committed several minor disciplinary infractions
that clouded the record for purposes of his upgrade petition. The team was able
to identify several procedural missteps by the unit’s leadership, including the
inappropriate assignment of termination authority, that the team confirmed through
one of the only remaining available versions of the applicable 1986 officers’ code.
Los Angeles TeamWins AsylumTrial for Cameroonian Persecuted on
Account of His Sexual Orientation
Los Angeles attorneys
Diana Hughes Leiden, Caitlin Tran,
and
Nareeneh
Sohbatian
, with assistance from Paris associate
Lara Elborno
and paralegal
Susan
Lawrence
, obtained asylum for a 24-year-old gay man from Cameroon. The client
fled Cameroon after his sexual orientation was discovered by a family member
who threatened to “out” him to the community. In Cameroon, homosexuality is
illegal and it is common for those known or suspected to be gay to be tortured and
even killed by neighbors and others, including the police. The client was also the
presumptive heir to his grandfather’s estate, and his paternal family threatened to
have him killed in order to prevent a gay man from inheriting the family’s property.
After he escaped Cameroon, he surrendered himself at the United States border
and was held in detention before being placed in removal proceedings. At the
hearing, the court found credible his responses to government questioning about
his persecution and sexuality and granted asylum.
PARENTAL RIGHTS
Charlotte TeamWins Appeal Upholding Finding of Parental Neglect
Acting as appellate counsel for the Guardian
ad Litem
Cabarrus County, North
Carolina, Charlotte attorneys
Jason Bennett
and
Will Petraglia
secured an
opinion from the North Carolina Court of Appeals affirming the trial court’s decision
that adjudicated two minor children as neglected. The children’s mother had
an extensive history of drug abuse, domestic violence against the children’s
grandmother (which occurred in the presence of the children), and mental health
issues. The opinion by the Court of Appeals adopted and quoted from several
arguments made by the team in response to various procedural arguments raised
by the mother in a 41-page brief.
Alex Kaplan
Diana Hughes Leiden
Will Petraglia