Did Ropes & Gray retaliate by giving info to Above the Law about ex-associate's discrimination case?
A discrimination case brought by a former associate against Ropes & Gray is headed to trial next month.
Among the questions to be answered by a federal court in Boston, the National Law Journal reports: Did the law firm retaliate against John Ray III by providing information about his Equal Employment Opportunity Commission race-discrimination complaint to the Above the Law blog?
Told in December 2008 that he would not make partner and had six months to find another job, Ray contended that his hours were cut that year when he complained about a racial joke and a racial comment. Then, he alleged, the firm retaliated against him for the EEOC complaint by refusing to give him a promised recommendation and sending an EEOC determination letter about the administrative complaint to Above the Law in 2011.
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns dismissed multiple claims against Ropes & Gray earlier this year. They included allegations of unlawful discrimination; breach of contract; and unfair competition.
Mediation was unsuccessful on the remaining retaliation claims, and the case is now scheduled for a mid-November trial.
The law firm and its counsel did not respond to requests for comment by the NLJ.
Attorney Latif Doman of Doman Davis said his client is looking forward to trial. “I think we’re going to have an opportunity to demonstrate that Ropes & Gray intimidated, they lied, they did all kinds of things to prevent John from exercising his civil rights,” he stated.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Firm denies bias claims by lawyer who said he was treated as ‘token black associate’”
