(Courtesy photo)

Davis Polk & Wardwell is again blasting racial discrimination claims first made by a former associate last year, asking a Manhattan federal judge to dismiss most of the lawyer's lawsuit.

The firm's partial motion to dismiss would jettison claims Kaloma Cardwell brought against six Davis Polk partners, as well as all claims that the brief says are time-barred. The firm is also hoping to persuade U.S. District Judge Gregory Woods of the Southern District of New York that Caldwell's hostile work environment and aiding and abetting claims don't pass muster.

A high-powered lineup from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison is representing Davis Polk, including Jeh Johnson, a former secretary of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama, as well as Bruce Birenboim and Susanna Buergel. Cardwell has a pair of solo attorneys on his side: David Jeffries, a former Queens prosecutor, and labor and employment lawyer Martin Restituyo.

If Woods grants Davis Polk's Thursday motion in full, the decision would leave in place a small number of claims against the firm and two of its leaders—Thomas Reid, who departed for Comcast last year, and John Bick, a former executive committee member.

"Once again, as our filing makes clear, all of the claims in this lawsuit are meritless. We have moved against those claims that are subject to dismissal at this preliminary stage in the litigation process," the firm said in a statement. "If this lawsuit proceeds beyond this point, we will show that the remaining claims, like those against which we have moved, are flatly contradicted by the facts and that Davis Polk, its management and partners acted entirely properly."

In its filing, Davis Polk reiterated many of the same points it had made to Woods in a Dec. 13 letter—accusing Cardwell of being a poor lawyer who didn't improve his performance despite multiple opportunities to do so.

Cardwell "neglected tasks assigned to him; failed to complete required work and meet deadlines; disappeared for protracted periods when tasks needed to be completed; failed to recognize basic points; reached incorrect conclusions; and advanced positions that would, if carried out, have been contrary to client interests," the firm said in its filing.

"Senior lawyers on plaintiff's matters repeatedly were required to do, or redo, his work, or to find replacement staffing to ensure that deadlines were met and client interests not compromised," Davis Polk added.

A University of California, Berkeley School of Law graduate, Cardwell joined Davis Polk in 2014 as an associate. He was the only black man in his associate class of 120-plus lawyers. He alleged in his lawsuit that he was routinely praised as being a hardworking and competent lawyer by his colleagues but frequently held back. He said he was left off important emails and was repeatedly marked down in his official performance reviews.

"The facts tell an entirely different story. The contemporaneous documentary evidence—performance evaluations, email records, work product—will show uniformly that plaintiff's deficient performance was the only reason he was asked to seek other employment," Davis Polk said in its filing.

Although the law firm argues Cardwell's lawsuit is entirely meritless, it's calling for the dismissal of all claims against six current and former partners—William Chudd, Sophia Hudson, Harold Birnbaum, Daniel Brass, Brian Wolfe and John Butler. Davis Polk asserted that none of Cardwell's claims, such as Birnbaum and Wolfe's failure to email him, "establish any adverse employment action … or the required discriminatory animus."

Cardwell initially sued Davis Polk in November; he filed his first amended complaint in March. According to Davis Polk, Cardwell's amended complaint added an eighth individual defendant, nine new counts, 42 additional pages and 94 new paragraphs.

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