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EEOC Allows Unexpected Discrimination Lawsuit Against King & Spalding

Here we go again.

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729293Shortly after the Blum + Co. lawsuits that strong-armed firms like Gibson Dunn and Morrison Foerster to change the wording of their diversity scholarships, waves of firms followed suit to avoid getting sued under Section 1981 of the 1866 Civil Rights Act. After the initial fray, Blum said the mission was accomplished and didn’t plan on any more anti-diversity suits. But a new challenger approaches that could set the tone for the next phase of diversity retaliation. King & Spalding better prepare themselves. From Law360:

A straight white woman is suing King & Spalding LLP alleging discrimination after getting a rare green light from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming she incurred “significant damages” when she was dissuaded from applying to a summer associate program open only to “diverse” applicants.

In a nine-page complaint filed Thursday, Sarah Spitalnick said she missed out on a plum summer associate program that paid $4,135 per week at King & Spalding, solely because she is “a white, heterosexual adult female.”
…
“This case is significant because the [EEOC] found reasonable cause to believe that King & Spalding violated the law, which only occurs in about [2%] of complaints,” Gross said. “King & Spalding’s discriminatory practices send a signal to others that these practices are acceptable. Ms. Spitalnick hopes that her lawsuit will send a message that discrimination of any kind is unacceptable.”

Dissuaded? It would be one thing if she actually applied and was rejected — then there might be some colorable arguments for the reason of her rejection being discriminatory, but making a loss of chance claim over something you literally didn’t even apply for seems off. Gotta be honest though, getting a chunk of a summer associate salary without even slogging through the onboarding process is a sweet work/life balance deal.

Merits of this case aside, the fact that the EEOC greenlit this could signal to other people that they may bring discrimination lawsuits against firms that either rejected them or scared them off with equity-facing language over the last few years. Not a good time for diversity.

King & Spalding Accused Of Anti-White, Pro-LGBTQ Bias [Law360]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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