Citing racist email remarks by supervisors, lawyer sues Lewis Brisbois for alleged racial and disability bias
A former lawyer at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith alleges that the law firm essentially forced him to resign after he suffered health complications from surgery by docking part of his pay, diverting most of his cases, converting him to a contract partner, and threatening to end his health benefits. (Image from Shutterstock)
Updated: A former lawyer at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith alleges that the law firm essentially forced him to resign after he suffered health complications from surgery by docking part of his pay, diverting most of his cases, converting him to a contract partner, and threatening to end his health benefits.
The March 19 lawsuit by labor and employment attorney Robert Lofton alleges that the firm was motivated by “discriminatory animus” based on his race and “life-threatening health conditions,” Law360 reports.
Lofton cited offensive language and slurs used by two partners who left Lewis Brisbois to start a new firm in June 2023, taking more than 100 Lewis Brisbois attorneys with them. The lawyers, John Barber and Jeffrey Ranen, led Lewis Brisbois’ labor and employment group and had hired Lofton.
Barber and Ranen “have a well-documented 15-year history of exchanging racist remarks over defendant’s email system with lawyers throughout LBBS—ranging from junior associates to fellow partners,” the suit says.
According to the suit, Lofton had no idea that the very partners who hired him “harbored insidious and unlawful racial animus” that “undoubtedly was at the root of the racial and disability discrimination” that Lofton would be forced to endure.
Lofton was recruited to join Lewis Brisbois in September 2022 and promised a base salary of $260,000, guaranteed for six months, according to the suit, filed in Los Angeles superior court. Lofton, a Black man, also relied on representations that the firm valued diversity, equity and inclusion.
Complications from a December 2022 surgery required emergency room visits and additional hospitalizations.
Lewis Brisbois withheld pay for a two-week period in February 2023, citing a failure to enter billable hours for the month, according to the suit. The firm also withheld pay for a two-week period the next month but sent Lofton funds after he complained.
Lofton was informed March 29, 2023, that he would be converted April 1, 2023, to an hourly contract partner paid $136.84 per hour for billable hours worked, the suit says. Lofton was also told that his health benefits would end unless he worked a minimum number of billable hours per week.
After his status changed, Lewis Brisbois “made every effort” to exclude Lofton from “cases, communications and events and to generally deny Mr. Lofton his basic rights under state law in order to force his resignation because of his race and his health condition,” the suit says.
Nor was he paid for nonbillable work performed for Lewis Brisbois, according to the suit.
Lofton resigned in October 2023.
His suit alleges disability discrimination, failure to provide reasonable accommodations, racial discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, infliction of emotional distress, breach of contract and wage violations.
A Lewis Brisbois spokesperson gave this statement to the ABA Journal: “Lewis Brisbois has a strong record of taking action to correct and prevent any instances of harmful behavior out of step with our values. In fact, the events described in this lawsuit prove that. It is well documented that when Lewis Brisbois’ management discovered offensive emails between former partners, we disclosed these to the legal community, updated our policies and practices, and retained outside experts to evaluate and provide further recommendations, which we have since implemented. We are evaluating this lawsuit and will respond to the court in due course.”
Updated March 20 at 3:10 p.m. to add the statement from Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith.
