A Sexual Harassment Suit Against A Prominent Law Firm

Plaintiff Elina Chechelnitsky claims that the firm discriminated against women associates, by giving out work unfairly and holding an all-male golf outing.

The past few months haven’t been kind to plaintiffs in sexual harassment cases. Here in New York, Alexandra Marchuk won rather small damages in her long-running lawsuit against Faruqi & Faruqi — a result generally viewed as a defense win — after jurors didn’t buy her story of being harassed by a partner. Out on the West Coast, Harvard Law grad Ellen Pao walked away empty-handed after losing on all counts in her high-profile case claiming sexual harassment and gender discrimination at the venture capital firm of Kleiner Perkins.

But new cases keep on coming — and the allegations are just as juicy. The latest lawsuit, which we mentioned briefly yesterday, involves allegations of unfair work assignments, office romance, and a discriminatory, all-male golf outing. Charles Toutant has this report in the New Jersey Law Journal (via the ABA Journal):

McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter has been hit with a suit by a former associate who claims she was fired after complaining about gender discrimination and sexual harassment.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 10, claims the New Jersey-based firm requires women associates to sign a release and confidentiality agreement before they can socialize with male attorneys after work.

Plaintiff Elina Chechelnitsky claims that she never signed such a release — perhaps a good thing, considering that she’s now suing the firm. But that’s not all:

The suit also claims male associates at the firm receive better work assignments than their female counterparts, allowing them to receive larger bonuses, while women lawyers are given more nonbillable work, which does not count toward quotas….

In addition, the suit claims the firm arranged a sparsely-attended retreat for women lawyers to give the appearance of gender equality in light of its annual, male-only golfing retreats, in which associates had opportunities to interact with firm leaders.

I’d view not having to go golfing as a perk — give me a spa retreat over golf any day of the week — but to each her own, I guess.

Here’s some of the most salacious stuff from the complaint, from the NJLJ:

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[I]n October 2010, while attending a conference, Chechelnitsky met Lou Modugno, a partner in the Morristown office. Modugno began giving her challenging and desirable assignments that allowed her to bill a significant number of hours, the suit says.

Soon after, she met a bankruptcy associate from the Morristown office, Greg Trif, according to the suit. The suit alleges Chechelnitsky began receiving flirtatious emails from Trif and that Trif also made regular visits to her in her office.

Trif told her that attorneys were clamoring for “face time” with Modugno, but that she was in the firm’s “inner circle” because he was close to Modugno, the suit alleges.

Here are the actual paragraphs from the complaint, which are unintentionally amusing:

47. At the “after party” Associate Trif told Plaintiff that some attorneys were going to get sushi and that she should join them. When they arrived at the sushi restaurant, Associate Trif admitted to Plaintiff that no one else was joining them because he only wanted to have dinner with her.

48. During their dinner, Associate Trif asked Plaintiff if she “had noticed” other attorneys clamoring for face time with Partner Modugno. Plaintiff admitted that she had noticed. Associate Trif then asked, “Did you notice how you are on the [Defendant’s] inside circle? That is because I am close to Partner Modugno and you were there with me.”

“That is because I am close to Partner Modugno and you were there with me.” Not the most convincing dialogue ever, but we get the gist.

According to the complaint, Chechelnitsky and Trif started dating (of course), and Chechelnitsky started getting more and better assignments from Modugno and from name partner James Mulvaney. But it didn’t last (of course):

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One day, the suit alleges, Trif told Chechelnitsky that on the day she first met Modugno at the [October 2010] conference, he “‘thought you were hot and that I should meet you.’” Trif said Modugno had given Chechelnitsky her first assignment merely so Trif could meet her, the suit claims.

“Plaintiff was very disturbed and uncomfortable that she had only been assigned to a case because partner Modugno found her attractive and wanted to set her up with one of his favored associates,” the suit says.

Chechelnitsky and Trif soon stopped dating, according to the suit. “Almost immediately after the breakup, partner Modugno, partner Mulvaney and associate Trif all stopped giving her assignments,” the suit claims.

And it all went downhill from there, according to the complaint:

Chechelnitsky lodged complaints with two partners about a perceived lack of gender equity at the firm in December 2012, then was terminated in July 2013. She was told she was let go because of a lack of work in her department, but a male attorney was hired in the department less than a month later, the suit alleges.

What does the firm have to say for itself? McElroy Deutsch’s general counsel, Ronald Riccio, issued this statement:

Ms. Chechelnitsky’s current complaint is identical to an unsworn [U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] charge she filed against our firm in May 2014. The EEOC terminated its processing of that charge in December 2014 without taking any action. We believe the plaintiff’s allegation of wrongdoing in this complaint is frivolous, and intend to defend our firm to the full extent of the law and seek all remedies available. We are confident that the facts of the case will result in an outcome in the firm’s favor. Because this matter involves pending litigation, our firm’s policy precludes us from public comment beyond this statement.

You can read the complete complaint on the next page. Here’s one of my favorite catty comments:

28. In September of 2010, following the completion of a required clerkship in the Federal Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, Plaintiff was hired as a first year associate for Defendant’s Bankruptcy Group in the Newark office. Several Defendant Employees remarked that, due to her prestigious Federal Clerkship and outstanding education, Plaintiff was “overqualified” to work at Defendant.

Ouch. Fordham Law and a bankruptcy-court clerkship is a solid pedigree, but it shouldn’t make make you “overqualified” to work at a top regional firm like McElroy Deutsch. The firm boasts 300 lawyers across a dozen offices, and it’s one of the most prominent and profitable firms in the perfectly respectable legal market of New Jersey.

Will Elina Chechelnitsky get a nice settlement and jet off to Hawaii, as Lexie Marchuk once fantasized about? Or will she wind up with little or no damages, like Marchuk or Ellen Pao? Stay tuned — and if you have info to share about either Chechelnitsky or McElroy Deutsch, email us or text us (646-820-8477).

(Flip to the following page to read the complaint in full.)

McElroy Deutsch Faces Gender Bias, Sexual Harassment Suit [New Jersey Law Journal]
Men-only golf retreats and unequal work assignments alleged in bias suit against McElroy Deutsch [ABA Journal]