Sanford Heisler, LLP Files $200 Million Gender Discrimination Class
Action Against Greenberg Traurig on Behalf of All Female Law
Partners
NEW YORK, Dec. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Female attorneys at
Greenberg Traurig LLP face gender discrimination in pay and
promotional opportunities throughout the country. The United
States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, after years of
investigating Greenberg Traurig, concluded in June 2012 that there is (1) "reasonable cause" to
support class-wide claims of gender discrimination in compensation;
(2) reasonable cause to support claims that women are treated less
favorably in the terms and conditions of their employment; and (3)
reasonable cause to support an allegation of retaliation.
Those instances of gender discrimination are at the heart of a
$200 million class action complaint
filed today against Greenberg Traurig in the U.S. District Court
for the Southern District of New
York by Sanford Heisler, LLP,
a leading national plaintiffs' law firm. David Sanford, Katherine
M. Kimpel, Jill M. Sullivan,
and Kate Mueting represent
Francine F. Griesing, a former
partner at Greenberg Traurig, and a class of female partners.
Greenberg Traurig, with more than 1,700 attorneys and more than a
billion dollars in annual revenue, is one of the largest law firms
in the United States.
"Greenberg Traurig's closed compensation system and 'good old
boy' culture allows gender discrimination to thrive and flourish.
The EEOC's rare finding of class-wide discrimination at the firm
confirms that it is time to shine a light on Greenberg Traurig's
damaging practices, level the playing field and facilitate
merit-based advancement for women at the firm," said David Sanford, Chairman of Sanford Heisler.
Ms. Griesing is a cum laude graduate of The University of Pennsylvania Law School with more
than 30 years of experience representing clients in complex
litigation, dispute resolution, business counseling and government
affairs. She has received numerous awards from national and
community organizations for her legal accomplishments and community
leadership. After joining Greenberg Traurig in 2007, she was
relegated to the lowest shareholder status. Although Ms.
Griesing was an exceptional performer at the firm, she was
discriminatorily denied the compensation, promotions, support and
rewards enjoyed by the firm's less productive and less competent
male shareholders. She was ultimately terminated for her
continued gender discrimination complaints to Richard Rosenbaum, the firm's CEO, in 2009.
"Ms. Griesing is, by any measure, impressive," explained Mr.
Sanford. "Her reputation and accomplishments speak for themselves,
and it is because of Ms. Griesing's bravery and dedication that,
one day soon, women at Greenberg Traurig can hope to have an equal
opportunity to be rewarded for their achievements and success."
According to today's Complaint, Greenberg Traurig routinely
discriminates against current and potential female shareholders in
hiring, promotion and compensation. All of its compensation
and other employment decisions nationwide are made by CEO
Richard Rosenbaum, who during a
conversation about Ms. Griesing's compensation, derided the female
partners in the firm's Philadelphia office as "worthless." In
turn, the firm compensated its female shareholders as though they
were, in fact, worth less. The head of Greenberg Traurig's
Women's Initiative informed Ms. Griesing that women at the firm
have to wait years to "catch up" to their male counterparts as a
result of the firm's discriminatory practices. The firm's
male management claimed that certain male shareholders "needed the
money" more than female shareholders because the men had families
to support, and responded to Ms. Griesing's concerns about unfair
practices by telling her she was "lucky to have a job" and that it
was "unseemly" to complain about money.
"The legal profession has been, ironically, a bastion of gender
discrimination," commented Katherine
Kimpel, Managing Partner of the DC office of Sanford Heisler. "While women make up 45% of law
firm associates, only 15% of equity partners generally and less
than 10% of equity partners at Greenberg Traurig are women. This
case not only will force Greenberg Traurig to clean up its house
but also should encourage other large law firms to turn a critical
eye to the way they treat their own female attorneys. The time for
women attorneys to work twice as hard for half the reward is long
past."
The Class is comprised of the hundreds of female Greenberg
Traurig shareholders who have been or will be employed by the firm
from 2007 until the date of the judgment. Ms. Griesing seeks
declaratory and injunctive relief, back pay, front pay,
compensatory damages, nominal, liquidated and punitive damages and
attorneys fees, costs and expenses to redress Greenberg Traurig's
pervasive and discriminatory policies, practices and procedures on
behalf of herself and the Class and brings individual claims for
the firm's retaliation up to and including its termination of her
employment.
A jury trial is requested.
About Sanford Heisler,
LLP
Sanford Heisler is a public
interest law firm with offices in Washington, D.C., New York, and San
Francisco that specializes in employment discrimination,
wage and hour, qui tam and other civil rights matters. The
firm has extensive experience in complex class action litigation
having successfully represented thousands of individuals in major
class action cases in the United
States. The firm also represents select individual clients
with a particular emphasis on the representation of executives and
lawyers in employment disputes and whistleblowers. In May 2010, the firm won the largest jury award in
the U.S. in a gender discrimination employment class action when a
jury returned a verdict of $253
million in compensatory and punitive damages against
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. In 2012, the firm won
court approval to settle a wage and hour case on behalf of sales
reps employed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals for $99 million. For more information, contact
Sanford Heisler at (202)
499-5200.
For more information, contact Jamie
Moss, newsPRos, 201-493-1027, jamie@newspros.com
SOURCE Sanford Heisler, LLP