A former executive at roofing manufacturer GAF Materials is accusing her former lawyers of mishandling a potential age and gender discrimination case by failing to meet a key procedural deadline, according to a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts state court.
Elizabeth McSorley said that after she was “cruelly cast aside” at age 59 by GAF in March 2023, she hired lawyers Philip Gordon and Benjamin Flam to review a severance agreement.
Under the terms of the offer, GAF would have continued to pay her weekly salary of $4,455 through the rest of that year for a total of $173,775, according to the complaint, filed Tuesday in Suffolk County Superior Court.
Instead, McSorley said Gordon and Flam of Gordon Law Group LLP, which specializes in employment law cases, advised her not to accept GAF’s severance package and told her she had grounds for an age and gender bias case.
The lawyers then sent a demand letter to GAF, noting McSorley was more experienced than her younger, male counterparts who held the same positions, the suit said. GAF disputed the allegation but offered in May 2023 to bump up its severance offer to add approximately $36,000 from a bonus plan, according to the suit.
