On Thursday, September 26, 2024, Reuters reported that a U.S. federal judge had denied a motion by the law firm Jones Day to dismiss a discrimination lawsuit related to its parental leave policy.
The lawsuit was brought by Julia Sheketoff and Mark Savignac, both former Supreme Court clerks and associates at Jones Day, alleging that the firm’s policy granting eight additional weeks of paid medical leave to birth mothers but not to fathers was discriminatory. Jones Day had argued its policy offering 10 weeks of gender-neutral family leave separately was lawful, but Judge Randolph Moss in Washington D.C. ruled the discrimination claims could move forward.
While Judge Moss allowed Savignac’s retaliation claim that he was wrongly terminated after complaining about the policy to proceed, he dismissed Sheketoff’s claim that she was underpaid due to gender bias. The judge’s full reasoning was under seal for now.
Sheketoff and Savignac, a married couple, had been engaged in a legal battle against Jones Day for over five years, claiming the leave policy violated civil rights law. Savignac was fired five months after Sheketoff left the firm in 2018, with Jones Day asserting it was due to poor judgment in sending an email demanding more leave and threatening litigation. Savignac maintained the dismissal was unlawful, arguing he would have made partner otherwise.
If the case goes to trial, it would be rare for a discrimination lawsuit against a major law firm to reach a jury instead of settling out of court. The article draws a comparison to another appellate case, where a jury recently rejected a former Davis Polk associate’s claims of wrongful termination over alleged racial bias.
Source: Reuters
