Sarah E. A. Sousa

Career Overview

Sarah Sousa’s practice focuses on the areas of employment and business law and civil litigation. She represents both plaintiffs and defendants in all manner of employment claims including discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, non-competition and non-solicitation, whistleblower, and wage and hour disputes. She has also represented both employees and employers in class action litigation. Sarah has tried cases in state court and before administrative agencies, such as the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

Recognized for her work in employment law, Sarah was honored as a 2020 “Up & Coming Lawyer” for Excellence in the Law by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. She was also named a Massachusetts Super Lawyers “Rising Star” for employment law in 2019 and 2020.

Outside of her work at Arrowood, Sarah is actively involved in the Women’s Bar Association, where she serves on the board of directors and co-chairs the Women’s Bar Association’s New Lawyers Committee, which serves attorneys who have been practicing for ten years or less. She also volunteers for the Women’s Bar Foundation’s Family Law Project for Domestic Abuse Survivors, representing low-income domestic abuse survivors in divorce and related proceedings.

Sarah graduated from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and received her J.D. from Boston College Law School.

Notable Cases

• Together with Lisa G. Arrowood, represented whistleblowers who filed a False Claims Act complaint on behalf of the United States and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts against Steward Health Care System, resulting in a $4.7 million settlement related to Medicare and Medicaid kickback allegations.
• Worked with Arrowood LLP partner, Lisa G. Arrowood, to reach $900,000 settlement on behalf of executive alleging gender discrimination claims arising from hostile work environment.
• Represented commercial photographers in arbitration, conducted remotely, against former representation in breach of contract claims.
• Worked with Arrowood LLP partner, Raymond P. Ausrotas, to reach $1,200,000 class-wide settlement on behalf of Massachusetts inside sales employees in claim alleging failure to pay overtime in violation of Massachusetts law.
• Worked with partner Lisa G. Arrowood to reach $400,000 settlement on behalf of former head of private elementary school alleging age and gender discrimination claims.

Honors and Awards

• Named by Super Lawyers as a Massachusetts Rising Star for Employment and Labor, 2019-2024.
• Honored as a 2020 Up & Coming Lawyer for Excellence in the Law, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

Publications and Lectures

• Author, “Chapter 6: Selected Federal Evidentiary Issues,” Federal Civil Litigation in the First Circuit, August 2019