Jones Day sued again by former California attorneys for gender discrimination

California attorneys formerly employed as Jones Day associates targeted their old employer Wednesday for systematically denying women equal pay and opportunities for advancement, this time in a proposed $200 million gender discrimination class action.

Almost a year after a Jones Day partner accused the powerhouse firm of firing her for speaking up about pay disparities for women, the same firm that brought those claims again accused it of operating as a "fraternity."

According to the complaint, Jones Day's leadership and compensation models -- both cloaked in secrecy to disguise the firm's pervasive discrimination -- reward less deserving men while subjecting women to harassment and humiliation.

"We believe it's time that lawyers shine the light on themselves," said Russell Kornblith of Sanford Heisler Sharp. "Jones Day's culture of pay secrecy and the effect it has on women is emblematic of problems in big law."

Jones Day did not respond to requests for comment.

Sanford Heisler Sharp LLP, which represents former Jones Day partner Wendy Moore for essentially the same claims in state court, have filed similar gender discrimination lawsuits against several prominent law firms, including Morrison & Foerster LLP, Proskauer Rose LLP and Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC.

The lawsuit targets managing partner Stephen J. Brogan's "nearly absolute control" and "unchecked autonomy" over all management decisions, including a "black box" compensation policy to determine pay, according to the complaint.

The model is an allegedly subjective review not tied to performance metrics, which bars employees from discussing compensation and encourages favoritism, the complaint states.

The evaluation process can be easily manipulated to justify pushing women out because decisions are made by a single person, according to plaintiffs' attorney Deborah K. Marcuse of Sanford Heisler Sharp in the complaint.

She argued in the complaint a female, childless associate is often found "inadequately fun" and "excessively intense," while the high-performing mother is "deadline-challenged" and "lacks commitment."

"Some of the plaintiffs were told they are insufficiently committed to the firm, and some of them were told they are overcommitted," Kornblith said in an interview. "It is a system in which we allege women are dammed if they do and damned if they don't."

The six plaintiffs alleged violations of the Civil Rights, Equal Pay and D.C. Human Rights Acts in addition to various California statutes. Tolton v. Jones Day, 19-CV00945 (D. of D.C., filed April 3, 2018).

The suit seeks $200 million in damages and an injunction that blocks the firm from continuing its allegedly discriminatory pay practices and directs it to establish new pay protocols.

Partners, who are disproportionately men, bond with younger, male associates in the firm's "fraternity" culture by harassing and humiliating women, according to the complaint, and the male attorneys, in turn, get higher profile cases, which leads to more opportunities for increased compensation and promotions.

"The results are predetermined by this standard operating procedure of discrimination: Even though the Firm hires roughly equal numbers of men and women associates, women make less money; women are heavily outnumbered in the partnership; women who get pregnant often get fired; and women who speak up often suffer retaliation," Marcuse wrote.

Former Irvine-based Jones Day associates Nilab R. Tolton, now with Call & Jensen, and Andrea Mazingo, now with Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, are named plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which also includes allegations from four Jane Doe plaintiffs.

The complaint alleges Tolton was often assigned secretarial-type work although she initially excelled at the firm and claimed her pregnancy led to the end of her tenure.

She alleged her 2014 raise was reduced after inquiring about maternity leave and returned to unsubstantiated negative reviews and diminished work opportunities.

The former Harvard Law School graduate was terminated when she came back from a second maternity leave.

Sanford Heisler Sharp is currently representing former Jones Day partner Wendy Moore, who was the hiring partner for the San Francisco and Palo Alto offices, in state court for allegations she was fired for speaking up about the firm's pay disparity for women.

The 1st District Court of Appeal is considering whether the matter should be decided by an arbitrator or a state court judge. Moore v. Jones Day, CGC-18-567391 (S.F. Super. Ct. filed June 19, 2018).