Philadelphia. Photo: Shutterstock

Linda Perkins, counsel at Philadelphia-based law firm White and Williams, has sued her firm, alleging that she was denied career and business development opportunities because she is an African American woman.

Perkins alleged that she made complaints about being marginalized and harassed at White and Williams, which she described in her suit as “a homogenous, almost exclusively white, male-dominated law firm.” She alleged that the firm responded to her complaints “by shunning her and shutting her out of almost all meaningful work and professional opportunities.”

She filed her complaint Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

White and Williams said it has already investigated her claims and “concluded that they were unfounded.”

Before joining White and Williams, Perkins was a partner in the Philadelphia office of New Jersey-based law firm Archer. Before that she was a department chief in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office.

Perkins was still listed on White and Williams' website as counsel as of Friday morning. She is represented by employment lawyer Jennifer Bell of Bell & Bell in Philadelphia.

According to her complaint, she was hired in February 2017, and her employment agreement specified that if she billed 1,200 hours in 2017 and 1,400 hours in 2018, she would be signed on to work there through 2019. Her annual base salary was $230,000, the complaint said.

“Shortly after joining the firm, it became clear to Ms. Perkins that she was not being assigned enough work to allow her to meet her annual billable hours requirement, to meet expectations of a lawyer of her capabilities, or to permit her to cultivate a book of business and develop professionally,” she alleged.

Perkins was not allowed to attend client meetings and events where she had preexisting contacts with the client, and she was excluded from panels she was qualified for, she alleged. She also drafted scholarly articles that were delayed or ignored, the complaint said.

At the same time, Perkins alleged, her white male colleagues had access to these opportunities that she was being denied.

In a July 2018 meeting with the commercial litigation department chair, Perkins told him “she was being impeded in her ability to grow professionally, was being treated differently, and being shunned,” the complaint said.

After she brought her concerns forward, Perkins alleged, the firm conducted an investigation that took more than four months. At the conclusion, her complaint said, she was provided with a summary of the investigation that said, among other things, that she was difficult to work with.

From the report, “it was clear that Ms. Perkins' complaints were not taken seriously,” the suit alleged.

Perkins' complaint noted that White and Williams said she did not meet her billable hour requirements, but she alleged that was due to the firm withholding work from her and “failing in its commitment to help her grow her business.”

In addition to her allegations specific to her own career, Perkins said she overheard comments at the firm that support her allegations of discrimination.

For instance, she said she “overheard a number of attorneys comment on the extensive time period that African American attorneys spend as associates at White and Williams before (rarely) being elevated to higher-level positions,” and “heard at least one other attorney at the firm openly acknowledge during a Women's Initiative event at DiBruno Brothers that 'the only way to make partner here is if you have a penis,'” the complaint said.

Perkins' complaint noted that she has also pursued her claims through a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.

Reached for comment Thursday afternoon, a spokeswoman for White and Williams sent the following statement: “White and Williams is an equal opportunity employer. As such, all employees, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age are treated equally and fairly. When the issues in the complaint were first raised internally, the firm hired a third-party to conduct an investigation, which concluded that they were unfounded. The firm continues to take Ms. Perkins's allegations seriously, but will not comment on them directly.”

Bell, Perkins' lawyer, declined to comment on the case.