Lawyer Who Claimed She Was a 'Diversity Prop' Settles With Former Firm
A North Carolina firm tapped Morgan Lewis partner Grace Speights to push back after it was called "a contemporary version of an old-fashioned Southern plantation.”
July 30, 2019 at 03:56 PM
4 minute read
A North Carolina lawyer agreed this week to drop a lawsuit claiming her former firm fraudulently touted its diversity when it employed only a few attorneys of color and then retaliated against her when she complained.
Sharika Robinson, a former litigation associate at Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinkson, reached settlement with her former firm as of Monday, according to a docket entry in U.S. district court in Charlotte, North Carolina. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
As the case generated headlines earlier this year, Robinson Bradshaw tapped the leader of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius' labor and employment group Grace Speights to defend the firm. Speights was named The American Lawyer's 2018 Attorney of the Year for her labor and employment work that made her an ally of the #MeToo movement.
“We are pleased the case settled amicably, and we are confident Sharika Robinson will be very successful as she moves forward opening her own law practice in Charlotte,” wrote Carmen Caruso, who represented Robinson, in an emailed statement. “We're hoping to work with her as a colleague as opportunities arise. She is a very talented young lawyer with a bright future.”
Robinson sued the firm in March, alleging it marketed itself as committed to diversity even though it is dominated by white men. She claimed the firm used its few minority and women attorneys as “diversity props”—using her name and image in marketing materials but internally discriminating against her and frequently giving her ”grunt work” despite her qualifications.
“In truth, Robinson Bradshaw secretly remains [a] 'good ol' boys club' dominated by white male partners,” her complaint said. “The firm uses minorities and women lawyers as 'diversity props' to impress clients while overtly, systematically, implicitly, and intentionally discriminating against and oppressing them.”
According to Robinson's complaint, in one instance she was invited by a black male partner, Robert Harrington, to a firm-sponsored holiday party in 2016, only to realize the party was for black employees alone and conversations about race were barred. The suit refers to the party as “segregated” and “an early signal she had unknowingly been recruited to a contemporary version of an old-fashioned Southern plantation.”
Four male partners were named as defendants, along with Robinson Bradshaw: Harrington, who co-leads the firm's litigation practice and is the only black partner named as a defendant; managing partner Allen Robertson; and litigators Jonathan Krisko and Gregory Skidmore, a former Kirkland & Ellis partner.
At the time of the complaint, Robinson Bradshaw denied the claims and released a statement reaffirming the firm's commitment to diversity.
“Robinson Bradshaw denies Sharika Robinson's claims, and specifically denies that the firm discriminated against her in any way,” the firm's general counsel Kate Maynard wrote in a March 6 statement. “We are committed to diversity and inclusion, as evidenced by our attorneys' contributions to the firm, profession and community as a whole.”
Via email, Maynard confirmed Tuesday that the complaint was resolved amicably and will be dismissed.
In a motion to dismiss filed by Morgan Lewis' Speights and other defense lawyers in May, the defendants asserted that Robinson simply disagreed with the firm's decisions and feedback about her performance. “Yet, instead of alleging facts that would suggest actual wrongdoing, plaintiff converts her disagreements into a public attack on her employer's diversity efforts,” the firm wrote.
“She contends that by extolling these efforts, the firm defrauded her into believing that she would be free from stress, free from criticisms that she did not agree with, free from work assignments that she did not want, and, in essence, free from the struggles that law firm associates routinely face,” the motion asserts. “Not only were no such promises ever made, but this also is not what diversity efforts are intended to do.”
The racial discrimination complaint comes at a time when many law firms are highlighting their commitment to diversity and inclusion and introducing initiatives to hire, support and retain women attorneys and attorneys of color. But concerns remain that these efforts are geared mainly toward mollifying clients, rather than promoting diversity and equality within the profession.
Despite heightened efforts over the last decade, the number of diverse attorneys in Big Law remains low, and management remains dominated by white men: According to the National Association for Law Placement, minority partner representation in Big Law has risen only from 6% in 2009 to 9.1% in 2018.
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