Suit Claims Reed Smith Managers Doled Out Work Based on Sexual Liaisons
Updated: A nonequity partner at Reed Smith’s Pittsburgh office claims in a lawsuit that women lawyers there are paid less than men and given work based on actual or hoped-for sexual liaisons.
The suit by JoEllen Lyons Dillon says she never participated in sexual shenanigans at the firm, which paid its female partners on average about $130,000 less than men, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. A second Post-Gazette story has different details and information on a National Law Journal salary study that found women equity partners in midsize law firms earn on average $88,000 less per year than their male counterparts.
According to the complaint, “work was diverted … to female attorneys who were willing to engage in sexual relations with members of [Reed Smith] management or with whom members of [Reed Smith] management had sought to engage in such relations.” As evidence, it cites anonymous quotes from Reed Smith lawyers included in a national survey of female lawyers.
Dillon’s lawyer, Samuel Cordes, promised to produce actual instances where work was given in exchange for sex, the story says. “There is a pattern here of a male locker room, and it includes sexual favors,” he told the Post-Gazette.
Dillon alleges she was not promoted to equity partner despite bringing in millions of dollars in annual business. She says her pay was cut nearly in half last year when she took two months off for the birth of twins and cut by another $100,000 in January.
Reed Smith’s chief marketing officer David Egan issued a statement saying it had not yet reviewed the complaint. “But we are confident that Reed Smith provides a positive working environment in all of our offices, including Pittsburgh,” the statement said.
The law firm’s head of legal personnel, Robert Nicholas, later issued a statement to the Legal Intelligencer. “Ms. Dillon’s discrimination claim is completely without merit and her portrayal of our Pittsburgh office is inaccurate, unfair and irresponsible,” Nicholas said. “The promotion and compensation setting process at Reed Smith is done by the firmwide executive committee, a body elected by the partners, and is based on merit and performance. While we will not comment publicly on Ms. Dillon’s individual performance, we can confirm our intention to vigorously defend against these wrongful allegations.”
Updated Dec. 8 to include statement from Nicholas.
