When big money is on the line you want to get any chance of a suit dismissed as early as possible. DLA Piper tried to get a summary judgement against Anisha Mehta’s claims that they fired her over taking maternity leave, arguing instead that it was because she regularly handed in sloppy work product. Big if true — the sloppy work and “catastrophic blunders” the firm could muster amounted to a couple of typos in her work that clients didn’t even ultimately see.
Even if there were a couple of typos, the serial blunderer characterization doesn’t really vibe well with her having worked at the firm for nearly a decade and collecting positive reviews of her work. For example, if you thought one of your senior associates was kind of crappy, why would you assign them to work on a high importance matter? District Judge Analisa Torres read the facts in Mehta’s favor, writing that “DLA Piper’s performance-based rationale for firing Mehta is ‘at best, in tension with other evidence in the record or, at worst, plainly contradicted by it[.]”
If summary judgement isn’t in your favor and the facts don’t seem to be either, a jury trial with an empathetic plaintiff is one of the last things you want to deal with. DLA Piper is set to get to dealing pretty soon. Reuters has coverage:
DLA Piper is poised to go to trial in federal court in Manhattan on Monday over claims that it fired an associate for seeking maternity leave, marking a rare chance for a jury to hear an employment discrimination case against a major law firm.
This could very easily get spun as “Multi-billion dollar law discriminates against hard working mother and only you, the jury, are the ones that can make things right” at closing arguments. It doesn’t help that DLA as a firm seems to be less accommodating to parents and parents to be than most; they made a firm wide 6 week cut to parental leave not very long after they cut Mehta after all.
Depending on the strength of her case and the sensibilities of the jury, the money DLA Piper might have to pay out could cover a lot of cribs.
Earlier: DLA Piper Alleges Mom-To-Be Fired Because Of Her ‘Catastrophic Blunders’
DLA Piper Sued Over Alleged Pregnancy Bias
Major Biglaw Firm Slashes Parental Leave
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boat builder who is learning to swim and is interested in rhetoric, Spinozists and humor. Getting back in to cycling wouldn’t hurt either. You can reach him by email at christopherrashadwilliams@gmail.com and by Tweet/Bluesky at @WritesForRent.
The post DLA Piper Headed To Trial Over Firing Of Mom-To-Be appeared first on Above the Law.
When big money is on the line you want to get any chance of a suit dismissed as early as possible. DLA Piper tried to get a summary judgement against Anisha Mehta’s claims that they fired her over taking maternity leave, arguing instead that it was because she regularly handed in sloppy work product. Big if true — the sloppy work and “catastrophic blunders” the firm could muster amounted to a couple of typos in her work that clients didn’t even ultimately see.
Even if there were a couple of typos, the serial blunderer characterization doesn’t really vibe well with her having worked at the firm for nearly a decade and collecting positive reviews of her work. For example, if you thought one of your senior associates was kind of crappy, why would you assign them to work on a high importance matter? District Judge Analisa Torres read the facts in Mehta’s favor, writing that “DLA Piper’s performance-based rationale for firing Mehta is ‘at best, in tension with other evidence in the record or, at worst, plainly contradicted by it[.]”
If summary judgement isn’t in your favor and the facts don’t seem to be either, a jury trial with an empathetic plaintiff is one of the last things you want to deal with. DLA Piper is set to get to dealing pretty soon. Reuters has coverage:
DLA Piper is poised to go to trial in federal court in Manhattan on Monday over claims that it fired an associate for seeking maternity leave, marking a rare chance for a jury to hear an employment discrimination case against a major law firm.
This could very easily get spun as “Multi-billion dollar law discriminates against hard working mother and only you, the jury, are the ones that can make things right” at closing arguments. It doesn’t help that DLA as a firm seems to be less accommodating to parents and parents to be than most; they made a firm wide 6 week cut to parental leave not very long after they cut Mehta after all.
Depending on the strength of her case and the sensibilities of the jury, the money DLA Piper might have to pay out could cover a lot of cribs.
Earlier: DLA Piper Alleges Mom-To-Be Fired Because Of Her ‘Catastrophic Blunders’
DLA Piper Sued Over Alleged Pregnancy Bias
Major Biglaw Firm Slashes Parental Leave
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boat builder who is learning to swim and is interested in rhetoric, Spinozists and humor. Getting back in to cycling wouldn’t hurt either. You can reach him by email at christopherrashadwilliams@gmail.com and by Tweet/Bluesky at @WritesForRent.
The post DLA Piper Headed To Trial Over Firing Of Mom-To-Be appeared first on Above the Law.
