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mekelly@lapm.org 860-570-4637

Mary E. Kelly is a partner in the law firm of  Livingston, Adler, Pulda, Meiklejohn & Kelly. Mary’s late father Paul Kelly was an organizer for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO, while her mother Karen is a feminist who worked as a bookkeeper in a law firm.  Mary contends that given this pedigree it was inevitable that she would become a labor and employment lawyer.

Mary received her B.A. from the University of Connecticut, and received her J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1989.  She has been an attorney practicing with LAPM &K since 1989, and has been a partner in the firm since 1996.  In addition to representing employees with respect to claims involving discrimination and retaliation, she has represented employees with respect to claims involving first amendment activity, breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, invasion of privacy and agreements not to compete. She also represents employees with respect to related claims for social security disability.  She regularly represents employees in Connecticut State and Federal Court, the Department of Labor, the Connecticut Commission of Human Rights and Opportunities, and the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission.   In 2007, Mary co-taught the  Women's Rights Clinic at the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Mary was the President of the Connecticut Employment Lawyers Association (CELA) from September 2004 to September 2006. She has also been a member of the CELA Executive Board since 2002 and currently Chairs the Membership Committee.  Mary has been an active member of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) since 1998, and is currently a member of NELA’s National Committee on Sexual Harassment.  Mary serves on the Connecticut Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Executive Committee and on the Disability Law Committee.

 In 2006, 2007 and 2008, Mary was named by the publication Super Lawyers as among the Top Attorneys in Connecticut in the Employment & Labor category.   In 2007  she was named as among the Top Attorneys in New England in the Employment & Labor category.   Mary has written and spoken on issues involving individual rights, discovery issues and disputes, sexual harassment, non-competition agreements, disability discrimination, and the Family Medical Leave Act.

One of Mary’s  most rewarding experiences was working with partner Gregg Adler on a case involving her father and his union.   In Aeronautical Indus. Dist. Lodge 91 of Intern. Ass'n of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO v. United Technologies Corp.,  Pratt & Whitney Division , 2000 WL 34023056 (D. Conn. Jan 2000), aff’d 230 F.3d 569 (2nd Cir. 2000), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld District Court Judge Janet Hall’s ruling, finding that:  (1) the union contract imposed an obligation on UTC to make every effort to preserve bargaining unit work; (2) that UTC had failed to fulfill its obligation to do so; and (3) that the District Court had jurisdiction to enjoin UTC from moving bargaining unit jobs out of state until it met its obligation under the Union contract.   Mary is also particularly proud of her work in the case of,  Campbell v. Windham Community Memorial Hosp., Inc., 389 F.Supp.2d 370 (D. Conn. Aug 26, 2005), in which the Connecticut District Court found that since employees have a right to dispute information contained in their personnel files, a wrongful discharge claim could be brought by an employee allegedly terminated for submitting a written statement disagreeing with an evaluation.  
Mary lives in Vernon Connecticut, where she served on the Town Planning and Zoning Commission from 2003-2007.