2019 Attorneys of the Year: Nicholas G.B. May

Twin Cities employment lawyer Nicholas G.B. May enjoys representing plaintiffs in discrimination and civil rights cases “and helping level the playing field for them and oth­ers who come after them.”

So, it’s no surprise that May is especially proud of recently obtain­ing what is thought to be the first jury verdict in favor of a transgen­der individual in a business discrimination case.

In Ginther v. Enzuri Group (doing business as the Minnesota Vix­en football team) and the Independent Women’s Football League (IWFL), a Dakota County jury found the defendants violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act by denying the plaintiff, Christina Ginther, a place on their team because she was transgender. The jury awarded Ginther $10,000 in emotional distress damages against the Vixen and the IWFL and an additional $10,000 in punitive damages against the IWFL.

At press time, the case was on appeal to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

For May, the litigation has been “a defining case. I loved the satis­faction of a jury telling her that what happened to her [Ginther] was wrong,” May said. “Most of all, it helped reinforce the notion that the work being done by individuals and advocacy groups to help educate people and change minds about prejudices and biases is working.”

A native of St. Paul, May earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa and graduated from William Mitchell College of Law (now Mitchell Hamline) with a Juris Doctor degree in 1998. Currently, he is a partner at the Minneapolis-based firm of Fabian May & Anderson.

Read more about Minnesota Lawyer’s superb class of Attorneys of the Year for 2019 here.

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