Biglaw

The Fight To Crack Open Jones Day's Black Box Heats Up

And Jones Day lost their Rule 11 motion.

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Jones Day (Photo by David Lat)

Today, plaintiffs suing Biglaw giant Jones Day will ask a key discovery question — just how much pay and performance evaluation data will they have access to to make their case?

For those who need a refresher, the purported class-action gender discrimination case alleges a “fraternity culture” at the firm and unequal pay behind the firm’s notorious “black box” compensation system. There are currently six named plaintiffs in the case (there had been seven, but one anonymous plaintiff dropped out rather than reveal her name). The plaintiffs are spread throughout the country — Nilab Rahyar Tolton, Andrea Mazingo, Meredith Williams, and Jaclyn Stahl worked in California offices of the firm, while Saira Draper was an associate in Atlanta, and Katrina Henderson was in the firm’s New York office — and a core allegation is that the same black box compensation systems kept their pay below that of men working at the firm.

Plaintiffs are seeking all the data for approximately 2,000 associates, while the firm seeks to limit the discovery to employees in seven of their offices, about 600 people.

As reported by Bloomberg Law, the firm is arguing plaintiff’s request is overbroad and burdensome and should be limited to the offices plaintiffs worked in — not the firm’s other 11 offices — and should be limited by the statute of limitations to three years of data. Predictably, plaintiffs take a broader view:

Nationwide disclosure of Jones Day’s pay, evaluation, and personnel data is necessary for them to determine whether those systems, policies, and practices have a common discriminatory effect on female associates, the plaintiffs say in a letter brief filed July 3 with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

It is also needed to conduct a valid statistical analysis of how the firm pays and otherwise treats its female lawyers compared to their male counterparts, the letter filed in advance of today’s status conference says.

The firm also says that discovery should be limited to “numeric” evaluations not the “narrative” performance data. Plaintiffs allege managing partner Stephen J. Brogan has a “totalitarian grip” on the firm’s black box compensation and enforces a “no whining policy” that prevents women from complaining about the compensation practice.

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Jones Day previously lost its motion to impose Rule 11 sanctions. Judge Randolph D. Moss said, “Rule 11 is intended to deter and to punish litigation abuses. It is not a means of obtaining an early resolution of the merits of a dispute.” And he noted the pay discrimination claims “are not so frivolous or beyond-the-pale to warrant sanctions,” and discovery is necessary to determine Jones Day’s assertions.

We’ll have to see how the discovery dispute shakes out.

Earlier coverage: Jones Day Hit With Explosive Gender Discrimination Case
Jones Day Facing Second Class-Action Lawsuit Over ‘Fraternity Culture’ Of The Firm
Partner Whose Behavior Features Prominently In Jones Day Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Is Out At The Firm
Jones Day Wants Gender Discrimination Plaintiffs To Reveal Themselves To The Public
Plaintiffs Throw Shade At Jones Day In Gender Discrimination Lawsuit
Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Against Jones Day Gets Yet Another Plaintiff
Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Against Jones Day Dropped — Well, One Of Them At Least
Jones Day Gender Discrimination Case Spreads To New York
Amended Gender Discrimination Case Brings The Real Scoop On Jones Day Compensation
Jones Day To Gender Discrimination Plaintiffs: You Don’t Deserve To Be Paid On The Cravath Scale
Plaintiff Backs Out Of Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Against Jones Day Rather Than Reveal Her Name
Plaintiffs In Jones Day Gender Discrimination Case Want It To Be A Class Action
Jones Day Files For Sanctions In Ongoing Gender Discrimination Lawsuit
Jones Day Argues That Everyone’s Happier Not Knowing They’re Underpaid
Jones Day’s ‘Black Box’ Compensation One Step Closer To Being Blown Open

headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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