Anita Montaner-Sevillano

Anita Montaner-Sevillano
E-mail address:  ams@mcvpr.com
Phone number:  (787) 250-5652
Fax number:  (787) 759-2756

Anita Montaner-Sevillano is a Capital Member in the Labor and Employment Law Practice Group. She is the first woman to be elected to the Firm's Policy Committee.  She Chairs the Immigration Practice Area and Co-Chairs the Retail Industry Practice Area.

Practice Areas
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Montaner worked in various law related jobs, including fours years as legal assistant in the personal injury defense law firm of Tygart & Schuler, P.A. in Jacksonville, Florida.  Mrs. Montaner's areas of concentration include business immigration and employment rights laws, such as, Americans with Disabilities Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, Title VII, ADEA, workers' compensation, wage and hour claims, unjust dismissal and all other types of employment discrimination. She provides counseling and representation of employers before agencies and defense in employment rights litigation.

Education
She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and French Literature, cum laude, from Boston College, in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. She obtained her Juris Doctor degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Puerto Rico School of Law.

Admissions
She is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.

Memberships
Mrs. Montaner is a member of the Puerto Rico Bar Association and its section on Labor and Employment Law, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. She is a member of the Federal Bar Association and a Director for the Puerto Rico Chapter. She is also an active firm member in Lex Mundi, a leading global association of independent law firms, and Co-Chair of its Latin American and Caribbean Immigration Practice Group.

Publications and Speaking Engagements
She has contributed with several articles in Puerto Rico major circulation newspapers related to immigration and employment rights laws. She is also a contributor in the Labor Perspectives publication of the Firm. She has lectured on various topics for the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce, Association of Labor Relations Practitioners, the Society for Human Resources Management, Inter-American University of Puerto Rico, as well as other professional organizations, and regularly provides seminars to clients.

Representative Cases
Mrs. Montaner’s representative cases include:

• Juan García Ayala v. Bristol Myers Squibb, 992 F.Supp.106, USDC 1997;
• Juan García Díaz v. Darex, 148 D.P.R. 364 (1999);
• Santiago Clemente v. Executive Airlines, 213 F.3d 25 (1st Cir. 2000);
• Maribel Lebrón Torres v. Whitehall Laboratories, 251 F.3d 236 (1st. Cir 2001);
• Sergio de Hoyos v. Bristol Myers Squibb, 218 F.Supp. 2d 222 (USDC 2002) ;
• María Zukowski v. St. Luke Home Care Program, 206 F.Supp 2d 236, (USDC 2002)
• Alvarez v. Delta Airlines 319 F.Supp.2d 240 (USDC 2004)
• Betancourt v. Bear Stearns Co, Inc. 392 F.Supp. 2d 187 (USDC 2005).