Christopher P. Thorman - a Shaker Heights, OH Discrimination Lawyer

Shaker Heights Discrimination Lawyer

Updated: 02/28/2026

Areas of Practice

Discrimination
Employee Rights Litigation

Attorney Information

Overview

Chris Thorman is a founder with The Petrov Group where he focuses primarily on discrimination and employee rights litigation, and advising senior executives, managers and physicians in contract and severance negotiations. Over the course of his career, Chris's clients have obtained judgments, settlements and verdicts well in excess of $150 million dollars. In 2016, Chris received the Ohio Association of Justice's Craig T. Spangenberg Distinguished Advocate Award for his tireless work in representing victims of discrimination and harassment.

Chris has obtained multiple eight figure verdicts and judgments for his clients. Chris has won verdicts in age, gender, disability and race discrimination claims, as well as sexual harassment, whistle-blower and retaliation claims. In April 2018, Chris obtained a $28.65 million dollar verdict for a physician unlawfully terminated from his employment. Additionally, he has obtained a $16 million age discrimination verdict; a $7.765 million verdict in an age discrimination and unlawful retaliation case; a landmark $6.7 million award in the arbitration of a disability and age claim; and a $1.88 million verdict in a federal case on behalf of a $14 an hour municipal employee. He litigates throughout the United States.

Chris represented Michael J. Genaro, Sr., in the landmark case Genaro v. Central Transport Co., et al., in which the Ohio Supreme Court recognized individual liability for discrimination under Ohio law. He served as lead counsel in Dworning v. City of Euclid, et al., in which the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously determined that public employees may forego city civil service commissions and proceed directly to court to pursue their rights not to be discriminated against. He authored the amicus curiae brief in Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc., and represented the plaintiff in Hampel v. Food Ingredients Specialties, Inc., in which the United States Supreme Court and the Ohio Supreme Court held that same-sex sexual harassment violates the law. Mr. Thorman also has served as lead counsel in civil rights and voting rights cases, including litigation that resulted in the extension of voting hours at polls and a declaratory judgment prohibiting the then Secretary of State from barring election observers from polling places.

He was a law clerk to Judge Ann Aldrich of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, and an associate with the firm Baker Hostetler. As an Assistant Regional Attorney for the Office for Civil Rights for the U.S. Department of Education, he was instrumental in de-segregating an interscholastic athletic league in suburban Detroit, affecting more than 40,000 public school students. He is admitted to practice before the Ohio and U.S. Supreme Courts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio. Chris serves on the Board of Trustees for Public Justice, a national non-profit law firm. He is a past Officer of the Employment Rights Section and former member of the Executive Board of the Civil Rights Section of the American Association of Justice. He is a Trustee for the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Foundation, and is a current member of the Executive Board of the Ohio Employment Lawyers Association.

Chris graduated from Kenyon College with High Honors and Distinction in History and holds a Masters degree from Columbia University. He graduated from Case Western Reserve University's law school, cum laude, where he served as the Executive Notes Editor on the Law Review. Chris is a former high school social studies teacher. He is a former member of the Board of Directors for the Ohio Environmental Council, a non-profit environmental group, where he continues to serve on its Law Center's steering group. He is listed among the Best Lawyers in America. For more than a decade Chris has been identified by his peers as an Ohio Super Lawyer, and routinely appears in the Top 100 list for Ohio.

Mr. Thorman is retired.

Awards and Honors

Super Lawyers® Selectees

Christopher P. Thorman included in a Super Lawyers® list

Honors

Ohio Association of Justice’s Craig T. Spangenberg Distinguished Advocate Award
Best Lawyers in America
Ohio Super Lawyer
Top 100 list for Ohio

Other Sources of Feedback About Christopher P. Thorman

Included on the 2026 Ohio Super Lawyers list

Past Lists

2025 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2024 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2023 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2022 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2021 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2020 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2019 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2018 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2017 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2016 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2015 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2014 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2013 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2012 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2011 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2010 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2009 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2008 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2007 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2006 Ohio Super Lawyers list
2005 Ohio Super Lawyers list

Education

Legal Education
- Case Western Reserve University Law School, Cleveland, Ohio, 1991
  J.D., Doctor of Jurisprudence
  Honors: cum laude
Non Legal Education
- Columbia University, New York, New York, 1986
  M.A., Master of Arts
- Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, 1986
  A.B., Bachelor of Arts in History
  Honors: With High Honors and Distinction

Current Employment Position(s)

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Retired
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Past Positions

Judge Ann Aldrich of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Law Clerk
Baker Hostetler, Associate
Office for Civil Rights for the U.S. Department of Education, Assistant Regional Attorney

Pro Bono Activities

Board of Trustees for Public Justice
Board of Directors for the Ohio Environmental Council

Representative Cases

Genaro v. Central Transport Co., et al.
Dworning v. City of Euclid, et al.
Hampel v. Food Ingredients Specialties, Inc.
Katz v. Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Thirion v. Berger, et al.
Morgan v. New York Life Insurance Company

Bar Admissions

Ohio, 1991
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit
U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio
U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio

Other Affiliations

Executive Board of the Civil Rights Section of the American Association of Justice (Member)
American Association of Justice, Employment Rights Section
Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Foundation (Trustee)
Executive Board of the Ohio Employment Lawyers Association (Member)

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Contact

Shaker Heights, OH

20046 Walker Road
Shaker Heights, OH 44122

Directions

Phone: 216-777-4163

Fax: (216) 621-3422

Email: Send a message

Website: https://www.tpgfirm.com

Free Consultations

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Christopher P. Thorman - Shaker Heights, OH