Traci Ribeiro
Traci Ribeiro may not get her day in court. The Biglaw partner at Sedgwick filed suit against her firm earlier this year, alleging gender bias and pay discrimination. The firm responded to the suit rather sassily, and argued the arbitration clause in Ribeiro’s partnership agreement should control.
After a hearing in from of Judge William Alsup, it looks like the Biglaw firm might be right. The judge indicated he thought the case would have to go to arbitration, as Law.com reports:
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U.S. District Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California said he thinks it’s “a shame” that questions of “statutory rights” would be decided in a forum with limited discovery and appellate review. But Alsup said his opinion on arbitration’s effectiveness as a forum “doesn’t matter.”
“The Supreme Court has spoken. Congress hasn’t changed it. The Ninth Circuit has spoken. What am I supposed to do?” the judge said.
Though the hearing may have been disappointing, Ribeiro put on a brave face, and promised to keep fighting. And, yes, she did note the recent Major, Lindsey & Africa survey quantifying the pay disparity between male and female law firm partners:
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Ribeiro cast her dispute with Sedgwick as part of a wider struggle for equal pay across the industry, noting the recent report that women partners are paid 44 percent less than their male counterparts. “We plan to keep fighting whether it be in court or in arbitration,” she said.
The way that Ribeiro deftly links her lawsuit to the larger trend of Biglaw partner pay disparity is definitely interesting, and just may indicate we haven’t seen the last lawsuit on the matter.
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Sedgwick Partner’s Pay Bias Suit Likely Headed to Arbitration [Law.com]
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Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).