Suit by fired Akerman partner alleges she was 'pestered' on medical leave, treated less favorably based on race and sex
A former income partner at Akerman in Los Angeles accuses the law firm of “brazen acts of discrimination, harassment and retaliation” in a lawsuit filed on Monday.
Michelle Flores describes herself as “a highly successful 57-year-old Latina woman” and a “nationally recognized” attorney in the Sept. 29 lawsuit, filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Flores joined Akerman’s employment and cannabis practices in February 2018 after being “aggressively” recruited, according to the suit, which names the firm and her former supervisor, labor and employment chair Eric A. Gordon, as defendants.
“Almost immediately upon joining Akerman, Flores was treated differently and less favorably than her similarly situated non-Latina and male counterparts,” the suit says. The discrimination interfered with her ability to meet expectations set out in an employment agreement, according to the suit.
Flores was assigned too few associates and support staff, and the associates she did have were poached by other partners for competing assignments, the suit says. The shortage “negatively affected Flores’ productivity, revenue generation, income and bonus compensation,” the complaint says.
Flores was assigned nonbillable cases and assigned matters with no origination credit, the suit says. She was assigned clients who were already unhappy with Akerman’s services and “disgruntled” clients of Gordon’s, the complaint states. And the firm “unreasonably” cut her billing rates, affecting her bonuses and one of the metrics used to measure Flores’ success in bringing revenue to the firm.
Unlike male and non-Latina lawyers, Flores was also “saddled with training and mentoring associates,” which wouldn’t have been objectionable if the responsibility didn’t affect her ability to meet goals, according to the suit.
“Moreover,” the suit says, Flores “was subjected to gender-specific criticism in the way that she provided training and mentorship. Flores was directed to change her ‘tone,’ to be ‘kinder’ and to use a softer ‘female’ voice with both associates and clients, critiques not directed toward plaintiff’s male and non-Latino counterparts.”
Flores was also required to deliver bad news to clients who weren’t her own and did not receive reimbursement for an expense incurred on behalf of the firm, according to the suit. The expense was $5,000 a month for a media consultant Flores had to hire on her own, despite a promise that the firm would provide one for her “the same as was provided to other non-Latina and male partners.” The total cost to Flores was $60,000.
The suit claims Akerman fired Flores in retaliation for taking protected medical leave to recover for an on-the-job injury. It occurred about a year after she began work at Akerman when she sat on a three-legged chair that collapsed in the Akerman lobby, the suit says.
She continued to work in pain for three or four months until her doctors instructed her to take an immediate two-week medical leave.
“However, due to the significant backlog caused by understaffing and poaching of associates, Flores was forced to delay the start of her medical leave” by two days, the suit says.
While she was gone, the suit alleges, Gordon “contacted Flores multiple times to pester her regarding cases under Flores’ supervision. Despite Flores’ requests to be left alone so she could receive medical treatment and recover, Gordon pressured Flores to continue working while on medical leave, and pressured Flores to return to work prematurely.”
After she returned to the office in June 2019, it soon became apparent that she had not fully recovered, the suit states. Gordon notified the managing partner she would need a second medical leave but was fired before it began. She says she rejected an offer of one-month severance pay in exchange for a release of claims against Akerman.
The suit claims violations of California law preventing discrimination based on race, gender and disability; harassment; failure to accommodate her physical disability; interference with medical leave; and retaliation. It seeks compensatory as well as punitive damages because of “willful and oppressive” conduct.
Akerman does not comment on pending litigation, a spokesperson told the ABA Journal. Gordon did not immediately respond to a voicemail left on his cellphone after the ABA Journal received an automatic email reply indicating he was out of the office.
Flores is represented by Los Angeles attorneys Bernard Alexander III and Dana R. Cohn. Alexander told Law.com he is generally reluctant to file lawsuits against law firms “because they tend to be messy” but he agreed to represent Alexander after learning of her experiences at the law firm.
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