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Biglaw Practice Leader Encourages Women To Tell Him If They Plan On Becoming Pregnant... For 'Budgetary Reasons'

Random discrimination against women in a large meeting is so 2018.

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You’d really think that a law firm partner would know better than to potentially violate anti-discrimination laws in a well attended meeting of a practice group.

Then again, most people don’t really know Jones Day. The firm has built up quite a reputation during the Trump era for aiding and abetting the President, and the firm wasn’t exactly known as a great place for women even before it hitched its wagon to the sexual predator-in-chief.

Still, what went down last week at the Business and Tort Litigation group meeting in Cleveland crosses a line, even for Jones Day.

Sources report that, at the meeting, women in the group were “encouraged” to tell management if they were pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant within the next year. They said that this would help the group plan its budget.

We’re told that partner Stephen Sozio, who is co-leader of the firm’s health care practice and chair of the firm’s litigation department in Cleveland, added that he understood if women who were in their first trimester were uncomfortable talking to him. He encouraged those women to contact his administrative assistant and tell her about their plans.

Neither Stephen Sozio or Jones Day responded to multiple requests for comment.

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You don’t need to be an Ohio employment lawyer to know that you shouldn’t be asking your employees if they’re pregnant or plan to become pregnant. But, since it’s not entirely clear that there are still partners at Jones Day who know that there are laws and things, here are some words from the Ohio Employment Lawyers Association:

Do I have to tell potential employers I’m pregnant?

An employer cannot refuse to hire you because of your pregnancy-related condition as long as you are able to perform the major functions of your job. An employer cannot refuse to hire you because of its own prejudices against pregnant workers or the prejudices of co-workers, clients or customers. Therefore, an employer cannot ask you if you are pregnant or plan to have children.

If you are still early on in your pregnancy and not showing, you may choose to keep that information to yourself. Even if you volunteer the information or the employer is otherwise aware that you are pregnant, however, an employer cannot legally make hiring decisions based upon that information, but you should also recognize that it could be very difficult to prove that the reason you were not hired was because of your pregnancy.

Do I have to tell my current employer I’m pregnant?

A pregnancy will eventually start to show, so you may want to notify your employer that you’re pregnant as you approach that point. Prior to that point, if you do not require or anticipate any kind of leave for medical visits or pregnancy-related sickness, and are otherwise able to perform the major functions of your job, you may choose not to share that information with your employer.

You may need to notify your employer if you are going to take leave. You can consult with your supervisor, human resources department, company handbook, or your union to determine your company’s policies about using sick leave, short-term disability leave, or FMLA leave (if you are eligible). Each type of leave may have different advance notification requirements that you may be required to follow. If advance notification is required in order to utilize leave, you should comply with the notification requirements even though it requires you to disclose your pregnancy.

Discrimination of the basis of pregnancy is also covered as a federal matter by the Civil Rights Act. And, as of this writing, former and future Jones Day partner Don McGahn has not yet successfully packed the Supreme Court with people who will overturn the Civil Rights Act.

None of the Jones Day women we spoke with took the opportunity to help Sozio out with his budget. But one hopes that the firm has budgeted for liability insurance, for the day when Jones Day women have had enough.

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Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

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