Katherine M. Forster

In a novel reverse racial discrimination in employment case, Forster represents The Getty Foundation in a lawsuit filed by a white college student who claims she was deterred from applying for a multicultural undergraduate internship because, although otherwise qualified, she was told by Getty administrators that the program was open only to those of African American, Asian, Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islander descent. The foundation is an arm of the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Los Angeles-based art institution, said to be the world's wealthiest.

The student's rejection violated state laws against discriminatory employment practices and caused plaintiff Samantha Niemann "severe emotional distress," including "shock, pain, discomfort and anxiety," the complaint alleges. Niemann v. The Getty Foundation, BC618853 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed April 29, 2016)

"The Getty intended this program as a diversity pipeline project," Forster said. "For decades, the museum world has historically been overwhelmingly white. This was designed to give students of color help and to diversify the museum's curatorial and educational workforce and to contribute to the intellectual life of the museum."

So how to defend the program? "Thinking through the issues, analyzing and turning over the arguments — that's the fun part of being a lawyer," Forster said. She said that the case was so fresh that the defense had yet to jell. "If you look at the letter of the law, discrimination is wrong," she said. "But there's a tension between that and not discouraging diversity efforts. It's too early to discuss strategy."

Away from the office, Forster was the founding chair of a local bar association task force on the promotion and retention of women lawyers. She is a past president of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles. She is a member of the LGBT Bar Association of Los Angeles and serves on the Downtown Women's Center board as secretary and on the equality council of Equality California.

So she has some ideas about the Getty case and its implications for mainstreaming minorities in the workplace, she said. "This case dovetails nicely with thought work I do with other diversity and inclusion issues. I have had racial harassment and discrimination cases, but I haven't handled a challenge to a diversity program. So it's fun."

— John Roemer