Christine Dinan is a Partner of Peter Romer-Friedman Law PLLC. 

Christine is an experienced public interest lawyer who represents individual workers, victims of all forms of discrimination by companies and governments, and plaintiffs in class action lawsuits. With a strong record of impactful and groundbreaking work across nonprofit and government sectors, she brings deep expertise in discrimination, workplace leave rights, and systemic employment protections. Christine’s practice spans a range of legal areas, including employment discrimination; accommodations for disabilities, pregnancy, and lactation; family and medical leave, sick leave, and other job-protected leave rights; USERRA protections; and constitutional rights. Christine has helped to obtain significant relief for her clients, including a $550,000 jury verdict on behalf of a fast-food worker who was fired for leaving her shift to attend a prenatal appointment. She has also negotiated settlements that include systemic reforms by major corporations and governments.

Before joining Peter Romer-Friedman Law PLLC in 2025, Christine was a Senior Trial Attorney in the Employment Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where she investigated and litigated claims of employment discrimination against state and local governments. Before that, she spent nearly a decade working at nonprofit legal advocacy organizations focused on workplace justice. Christine was a Senior Staff Attorney at A Better Balance, where she enforced the rights of pregnant workers, caregivers, and people with serious medical needs.

Christine also was an Equal Justice Works Fellow and later Staff Attorney and Counsel at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, where she designed and led a project focused on providing representation to low-income pregnant workers and caregivers. Before starting her litigation career as a civil rights attorney, Christine was a law clerk to Judge Stuart G. Nash and a group of senior judges on the District of Columbia Superior Court.

Christine graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she was recognized with the Claire M. Corcoran Award for her exceptional commitment to public service and served on the board of the Public Interest Law Association and as a student-attorney in the Child Advocacy Clinic, where she represented low-income children in education and juvenile delinquency matters. Christine earned her B.S. in Industrial & Labor Relations from Cornell University.

Christine has been recognized for her impactful work as a public interest lawyer. In 2025, she received the Shaping Justice Rising Star Award from the University of Virginia School of Law for her contributions to public service. In 2024, she was recognized with a Special Commendation for Outstanding Service to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Christine was also selected by Public Justice as a finalist for its Trial Lawyer of the Year Award in 2018 for her work on behalf of gay and lesbian employees who were denied spousal health insurance by Walmart in Cote v. Walmart.

Christine’s cases have advanced equal rights and opportunity for diverse communities, including by:

• Winning a $550,000 jury verdict in a pregnancy discrimination case on behalf of a low-wage worker at Chipotle who was fired for leaving her shift to attend a prenatal medical appointment, including $50,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages. In addition to the $550,000 in verdict for the plaintiff, the Court awarded over $825,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs.

• Obtaining the first class-action settlement for a group of LGBT workers. In that settlement, Walmart agreed to pay $7.5 million to current and former Walmart employees who challenged Walmart’s prior policy of not providing spousal health insurance benefits to employees with same-sex spouses as a Title VII violation.

• Obtaining a settlement with the City of Tampa, Florida on behalf of male employees denied paid parental leave as primary caregivers, resulting in monetary damages, restored leave, and the adoption of new, non-discriminatory policies by the City.

• Obtaining a settlement with the State of Wisconsin’s Department of Military Affairs in a gender pay discrimination case.

• Obtaining a settlement in an action that challenged the amount of paid leave biological fathers were given by CNN and Turner Broadcasting as a violation of Title VII’s sex discrimination prohibition.

• Obtaining settlements in actions challenging the assessment of penalties for pregnancy-related absences under employers’ “no fault” attendance policies under the FMLA and New York’s Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

• Obtaining a settlement on behalf of a University of the District of Columbia (UDC) employee whose employer criticized her marital status, questioned her need for time off for her high-risk pregnancy,  and terminated her just before she gave birth.

• Obtaining a settlement on behalf of a District of Columbia government employee who was denied paid family leave benefits because she was misclassified as an independent contractor and was terminated after she complained about it.