Munger Tolles Backtracks on Summer Associate Arbitration
The high-powered Am Law 200 firm quickly apologized for a #MeToo snafu involving mandatary arbitration clauses.
March 25, 2018 at 10:27 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The American Lawyer
The power of social media in the #MeToo era once again swept into the realm of Big Law over the weekend.
Munger, Tolles & Olson reacted swiftly Sunday afternoon after its demand that summer associates submit to mandatory arbitration agreements emerged via Twitter less than 24 hours before.
“In this case, we were wrong, and we are fixing it,” said a March 25 statement from Munger Tolles posted to the firm's Twitter account.
Only a day prior, Ian Samuel, a former Jones Day associate and current lecturer at Harvard Law School, used Twitter to first leak out a copy of Munger Tolles' proposed arbitration agreement. After that document began making the rounds on social media, racking up critiques along the way, the Los Angeles-based Am Law 200 firm was quick to retract its position.
“We will no longer require any employees, including summer associates, to sign any mandatory arbitration agreements,” Munger Tolles said in its statement.
Neither the firm's leadership, which includes co-managing partners Brad Brian and Sandra Seville-Jones, nor Samuel immediately responded to requests for comment on Sunday.
The leaked agreement required that Munger Tolles summer associates arbitrate all employment-related claims, including those that fall under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which includes sexual harassment.
The document also contained a provision requiring that “the fact and content of any arbitration proceeding … shall be held in the strictest confidence and not disclosed to any person other than legal counsel or any firm insurer.”
While arbitration clauses can provide a cost-saving and streamlined form of dispute resolution, their efficacy and fairness with respect to harassment or gender bias claims has been called into question in a post-Harvey Weinstein world.
Earlier this month, the New York State Senate passed legislation that would ban mandatory arbitration clauses in sexual harassment cases. New York State Sen. Catharine Young, a Republican and the sponsor of the bill, said during the debate over its passage that forced arbitration clauses were one of the primary reasons that Weinstein and other powerful individuals have “gotten away with this over and over and over again.”
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllT14 Sees Black, Hispanic Law Student Representation Decline Following End of Affirmative Action
Female GCs Joining Corporate Boards in Large Numbers, Overcoming Biases and Stereotypes Along Way
9 minute readLong Island Midsize Firm and Managing Partner Sued for Sexual Harassment, Discrimination
6 minute readDiversity Pros Hope Work Allocation Offers a Key to Building Inclusive Law Firms
5 minute readTrending Stories
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250