Schoenfeld v. Allen & Oy-vey-ry: We've Got Close to Bupkis
Back in December -- around the holidays, so many of you may have missed it -- we wrote about Schoenfeld v. Allen & Overy. It's a lawsuit brought by Norman Schoenfeld, an observant Jewish lawyer who once worked in the New York office of Allen & Overy. Schoenfeld claims, among other things, that A&O discriminated and retaliated against him as a result of his observing the Sabbath.
Since then, we've received many requests for updates. This message is representative:
"Is there any news on this lawsuit? As a Sabbath observant 2L, this is of interest to me and many of my friends. A post on ATL providing an update would be appreciated. Love the site. Thanks."
We're not aware of any procedural developments in the case. And we sadly didn't receive much in response to our request for firsthand information about Norman Schoenfeld or Allen & Overy in New York. Here's the most interesting tip we received -- some opinions from an A&O associate:
"That this suit goes on is beyond anyone here at A&O. I did not know this Schoenfeld guy much for the five minutes he worked here and don’t know if his complaint has merit. I will say this though: associates don't want to work with Mark Wojciechowski and are asking not to work with him.""He told A&O he was bringing associates from Mayer Brown; MB associates refused to come work with him. Better to stay on a sinking ship like MB NY than work for a nightmare like Mark Woj...."
"No one can understand how firm management let this happen (rumor is that A&O already fired their first outside counsel). Recruitment of NY lawyers is badly affected and we just wait to see how much this costs the firm in damages (and associates of course since all s**t gets passed down – you know the partners won’t take the hit in their pocket)."
We contacted the firm for comment, but they didn't have anything to add.
If you have any firsthand information to pass along about the events in question, please email us. Thanks.
Complaint: Norman Schoenfeld v. Allen & Overy (PDF)
Earlier: Lawsuit of the Day: The Jewish Version of Charney v. S&C?
(19) Comments
Unrelated: what's going on at Cadwalader? NY Lawyer Daily Buzz is reporting more layoffs, but I'm too lazy to forward from my Blackberry to my work email to open the link.
Why is the poll on the left hand nav bar about being a registered nurse? Do RNs have a fascination for the legal community?
This Allen & Overy situation is pretty shameful. It's especially surprising that it happened in New York, which firms seem rather accustomed to Jewish observances.
I've found that it's been hard to be a Sunday-observant Christian in NY BigLaw. There's always a push to get things done on Sundays (instead of Friday/Saturday, which I've always been willing to work, especially if it helps cover that gap for my Jewish colleagues.)
You'd think religious diversity would be a huge plus in hiring, because we can cover each others' worship days and holidays.
Any other religious observers finding it hard to get their firm to respect their religious worship times and holidays?
Saturday, Donny, is Shabbos, the Jewish day of rest. That means that I don't work, I don't get in a car, I don't fucking ride in a car, I don't pick up the phone, I don't turn on the oven, and I sure as shit don't fucking roll! Shomer shabbos!
2:22 PM - 82.5 % of poll respondents indicated they were "not a Registered Nurse". Much lower than I would have expected here, but perhaps that accounts for all the weird comments.
I've heard rumors that on at least three seperate occassions Wojciechowski even called Schoenfeld at 3AM on a Saturday morning and told him to come in to the office immediately to help him build a Tabernacle. No word on whether Wojciechowski has compeleted the project.
The associates who are shomer shabbos at my firm always work on Sundays and sometimes come in on Saturday night after Shabbos is over as well. If anything they overcompensate for Shabbos so they can't be accused of slacking.
I don't believe in imaginary spirits that float around in the sky so what do I get?
3:31, Eternity in hell?
Procedural update: On 1-9-08 Judge Baer extended Defendants' time to answer or otherwise respond to the Complaint to 2-8-08.
I heard that one Saturday afternoon, Wojciechowski demanded that Schoenfeld help him pull a donkey out of a ditch.
Norman had a reputation as a bit of a flake and oddball while he was at Andrews Kurth. Mix that with a-hole partner = Perfect Storm
Why is there no similar respect for Sunday?
Amen, 4:04!
Friend of mine at O&A told me that Wojciechowski made Schoenfeld drive into work on a Saturday in the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile, and sculpt a statue of a golden calf.
This is all unconfirmed.
Schoenfeld's list:
Work 6 days 24 hours a day - $250,000/year
Take of 25 hours a week from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown - getting fired
Getting your lawsuit posted twice on ATL - Priceless
Why didn't the guys at ATL who posted this not mention that Schoenfeld LIED on his resume about his former employment (he admits this in the complaint)!
Unbelievable that you forgot this in a case that will be decided on CREDIBILITY!!
People should be allowed to work around other commitments be they religoius or family or any other reason.
Limiting justifications to purely religious reasons can have ridiculous outcomes e.g. I could start my own religion where working from Friday to Sunday is forbidden, thereby ensuring a long weekend for myself all the time.
The other problem is that the enlightened non-religious people (who don't believe in god(s), flying spaghetti monsters, or gremlins etc) end up losing out on the chance of having the same kind of break.
Both of these problems can be resolved by having a policy of allowing time off, and giving people flexible schedules so they can work around other commitments. That said, there will be times when every professional has to put their professional duties first e.g. doctor may have to give a blood transfusion even if they don't want to, muslim lawyer may have to not pray 5 times a day on the particular day his client is on trial if it can't fit around the trial schedule, etc.
I worked with Norman at one of his (many) prior firms. He is an idiot and totally lazy - the worst possible combination for a law firm associate. No wonder A&O fired him and he didn't last at 'NYC Firm'.