Stereotyped views of older lawyers led to firing of BigLaw partner, lawsuit alleges
A former partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman has alleged in a lawsuit that the law firm fired him and forced the leader of the aircraft finance group to retire after disbanding the practice because they were both in their 60s. (Image from Shutterstock)
A former partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman has alleged in a lawsuit that the law firm fired him and forced the leader of the aircraft finance group to retire after disbanding the practice because they were both in their 60s.
Lawyer Stewart B. Herman, now age 62, alleges age discrimination and retaliation in the April 12 suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. He is seeking at least $67 million.
Herman alleges in the pro se suit that he was fired by Noah Heller, the CEO of Katten Muchin, “because of his stereotyped views of lawyers in their 60s who had already worked nearly 40 years, and in my case, to keep me from retiring with my pension, which would have vested in 2024.”
Herman also said he was told in a meeting with Heller and Katten Muchin’s general counsel that Katten Muchin and its malpractice insurer “concluded that it presented too great a malpractice risk to the firm to allow lawyers close to retirement to continue to handle client relationships. They would get careless knowing they would be collecting their pensions before the mistakes were discovered.”
After he refused to resign, Herman was suspended without pay Aug. 1, 2023. The same day, the firm suspended Herman’s access to the firm’s email, telephone and document management systems in the middle of a closing transaction for a major client. He was fired three days later on the day that he filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and two other agencies.
At the time that he was fired, Herman said, Katten Muchin had adopted race, age and sex discrimination as an “official policy.” As examples, the suit points to groups and programs for minority, LGBTQ+ and female attorneys. The suit also contends that the firm’s “anti-racism” policy “soon veered into pressure to be a left-wing activist, creating a hostile and threatening work environment.”
Herman’s compensation at the firm had ranged from just over $900,000 to just over $1.5 million. He said he was recruited from Kaye Scholer (now known as Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer) with the promise that the aircraft finance group was strategically important and that the firm was committed its growth.
He later came to realize, however, “that Heller was deliberately crippling the aircraft finance practice group and breaching the partnership agreement by systematically and surreptitiously denying” Herman and the other partner in the group the personnel they needed.
Herman’s pension would have paid $140,000 per year for 10 years if he had retired on his birthday in 2024. Leaving before that meant that he would receive his contributions to the pension plan but nothing more.
Herman said Katten Muchin experienced a “downturn in revenue” in 2022, leading to layoffs in 2023.
“To control expenses, Katten had a strong commercial incentive not to let a partner retire and collect his pension,” the suit said.
Since he learned about the firm’s plans to end his employment, Herman said, he is “plagued with constant anxiety. I rarely sleep more than four or five hours and usually wake up around 3 a.m. from a work-related nightmare.”
Causes of action include age discrimination, denial of benefits protected by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress, interference with business relationship and civil conspiracy.
In a statement provided to the ABA Journal, Katten Muchin said the suit is baseless.
“This filing is a desperate and baseless action by a disgruntled former partner,” the statement said. “The firm will vigorously contest the allegations in the appropriate venue.”
Hat tip to Law360, Law.com and Reuters, which covered the suit.
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