The messy legal back-and-forth between the law firm Napoli Shkolnik and its former employee, Heather Palmore, began when they sued Palmore in New York state court alleging she “quiet quit” her job and surreptitiously worked two jobs remotely (at Napoli Shkolnik and her own firm). The firm’s complaint also alleged Palmore attempted “to extort money from the firm by making false and defamatory claims of discrimination directed to ‘others’ without any factual basis.” Then Palmore fired back, filing a federal complaint fleshing out those allegations of racial and disability discrimination and alleging the firm’s lawsuit was retaliatory and designed to preempt the discrimination lawsuit.

Palmore is now asking a New York court to throw out Napoli Shkolnik’s case against her, saying it “categorically failed to allege that Palmore breached any provision of the Employment Agreement” or violated any of the provisions. As reported by Law.com:

“Napoli continues to advance a theory, without any supporting caselaw, that Palmore’s allegedly unsatisfactory performance somehow makes her personally liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars and provides the basis for an employer to sue an employee in Tort,” the court papers read. “Napoli’s arguments are not only unavailing, but categorically fail under the law across the board.”

Additionally, Palmore’s attorney, David Gottlieb of Wigdor Law, argues the firm’s suit is a violation of the Anti-SLAPP law:

“Napoli asserts that it has met the heightened standard under Anti-SLAPP and can establish a ‘substantial basis in law’ that Palmore acted with ‘actual malice’ because (i) she knew an independent investigation was conducted which revealed no instances of discrimination at Napoli, (ii) she could not identify instances of discrimination and (iii) she knew a fellow employee stated that she [employee] had not encountered instances of discrimination as a minority,” the papers state. “However, Napoli’s relied-upon allegations are both conclusory and are utterly refuted by documentary evidence.”

Gottlieb says the existence of any “independent investigation” is unsubstantiated, as the firm has not provided any “evidence” it actually took place.

Napoli Shkolnik has not commented on the filing.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. 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 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.