Dechert sues former lawyer for alleged salary overpayment
Dechert has sued a former senior project attorney for more than $90,000, the money that the law firm said it is still owed after a $132,250 salary overpayment. (Image from Shutterstock)
Dechert has sued a former senior project attorney for more than $90,000, the money that the law firm said it is still owed after a $132,250 salary overpayment.
The Jan. 21 lawsuit filed in the trial-level New York Supreme Court blames the salary overpayment on a clerical error.
Law.com has the story.
The suit says senior project attorney Kathleen Fay continued to receive her regular salary for a 7½ month period ending in May 2024, even though she wasn’t performing billable work at that time. A temporary employment agreement in effect during that period provided that Fay would be paid only for billable work assigned to her and performed.
The agreement was reached in late September 2023 after Fay asked to remain listed on the firm’s website. Fay’s contract as a project attorney ended without an extension June 30, 2023, but she continued to be paid for three months and was offered consulting services to help with her job search, the suit says.
When Dechert discovered its mistake in mid-May 2024, it demanded its money back. Fay did not comply, the suit says.
“In an attempt to make itself whole,” the suit says, Dechert “exercised its rights to recoup certain payments made to or otherwise due to” Fay.
Fay told Law.com that the suit allegations “are baseless and its actions are unethical.” She worked on the firm’s product liability team for more than a decade “and am now a law librarian earning less than a paralegal,” she said.
“It is unfortunate that Dechert has chosen to remove my vested funds from my 401(k) account and to bully me in public,” Fay told Law.com. “However, the equities and the law favor me and I look forward to vindicating my rights and reputation in court.”
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