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White and Williams continues to deny an African American lawyer's claims that she was "marginalized, mocked, deprived of opportunities to develop her career and otherwise discriminated against and harassed" because of her race.

Linda Perkins, who is still listed as counsel on the law firm's website, alleged earlier this year that White and Williams is "a homogenous, almost exclusively white, male-dominated law firm." She alleged that the firm responded to her complaints of harassment "by shunning her and shutting her out of almost all meaningful work and professional opportunities."

A report filed Nov. 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania shed light on developments in the case since Perkins filed her complaint in May, as well as the firm's internal inquiry surrounding her claims.

White and Williams has argued that the lawyer "has been neither discriminated against nor harassed during her tenure" with the firm, and contended that she failed to bill half of the annual hours specified in her employment agreement during her first year with the firm.

According to the firm, Tracy Armstrong, a shareholder at Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, conducted an investigation into Perkins' claims when she first brought them to the firm, and is expected to testify in discovery. The firm said following Armstrong's investigation, it concluded that Perkins "had not been harassed on any level."

According to the report, the parties engaged in settlement discussions shortly before Perkins filed her complaint, and Perkins "made a settlement demand after which defendant determined that further settlement discussion would be unproductive."

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

Perkins is represented by employment lawyer Jennifer Bell of Bell & Bell in Philadelphia. Bell, reached by phone Monday, declined to comment on the case.

White and Williams has turned to Sidney Steinberg and Fara Cohen of Post & Schell. A spokeswoman for White and Williams did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

According to her complaint, Perkins 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.

Perkins asserts that she raised her concerns about her ability "to grow professionally" during a July 2018 meeting with the commercial litigation department chair, but her complaints "were not taken seriously."

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.

After filing her initial complaint, the latest report said, Perkins filed a charge of gender and disability discrimination with the EEOC. The report noted that Perkins was granted 12 weeks of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act after Armstrong's investigation concluded, related to emotional distress. The firm said she was found to be ineligible for short-term disability benefits by a third-party administrator, but that White and Williams had no role in that determination.