Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

One of the partners involved in a gender bias lawsuit against Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart has opened a new front in the dispute, filing a lawsuit on Wednesday under California's Private Attorneys General Act.

Lawyers for Tracy Warren, a former equity shareholder at Ogletree, lodged the suit in San Diego federal court on behalf of her and other women lawyers at the law firm. Previously, Warren opted into a proposed class action filed in San Francisco early in 2018 by lead plaintiff Dawn Knepper, another former Ogletree shareholder.

Warren and Knepper have both landed at Buchalter after leaving Ogletree, and they're represented in the gender bias cases by Sanford Heisler Sharp, a firm that has been instrumental in a wave of recent lawsuits alleging unfair pay and promotion practices at large law firms.

Warren's complaint under PAGA—a provision that allows employees to file lawsuits on behalf of themselves and others alleging violations of California's labor code—rehashes many of the claims made against Ogletree in Knepper's earlier suit. The women allege that Ogletree is run by a male-dominated leadership and that the firm affords men better pay, business development opportunities and promotions.

Warren's complaint also alleges that Ogletree retaliated against her after she raised concerns about potential gender bias within the firm.

“Through formal policies and widespread practices, the firm's male leadership interferes with, limits, or prevents female attorneys from receiving the appropriate credit for the business they bring to the firm and their hard work in running complex and demanding cases day-to-day,” the complaint said. “All the while, their male colleagues reap the professional and financial profits that women generate.”

Ogletree has denied the allegations of discrimination and has said in statements that its compensation system is fair and transparent. The firm has also announced steps taken internally that, Ogletree said, are designed to promote equity. Paul Hastings is serving as Ogletree's outside defense counsel in the gender bias litigation.

A firm spokesman issued a statement on Thursday that reiterates the firm's commitment to diversity and notes that women account for more than half of the people at Ogletree.

The statement also describes the firm's position on how Warren's time at Ogletree ended, rebutting allegations in her complaint that the firm cooked up a pretextual reason to push her out after she raised concerns about the firm's treatment of women.

“Ms. Warren was terminated shortly after the firm received a client complaint that she had engaged in unprofessional and unethical conduct,” Ogletree's statement said. “Following an investigation and with the input of outside counsel, Ms. Warren was expelled on a vote of the equity shareholders.”

In court, the firm has sparred with Knepper, who was a non-equity shareholder at Ogletree, over the application of an employee arbitration agreement. The two sides lodged competing arguments in August and October, with Ogletree pushing for a transfer of the case to Southern California in light of provisions in the arbitration pact and Knepper arguing that she should not be bound by the agreement.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco sided with Ogletree and transferred Knepper's case to federal court in Santa Ana, California, where it's now pending. On Tuesday, Ogletree filed a motion to compel arbitration that, among other arguments, notes that Orrick's decision to transfer the case came after the judge found that Knepper and the firm had, indeed, agreed to arbitrate.

Read More:

Ogletree, Ex-Partner in Gender Bias Case Spar Over Arbitration Pact

More Women Accuse Ogletree of Gender Bias in $300M Suit