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Ex-Partner Sexually Harassed 12, Kasowitz Law Firm Says in Lawsuit

By Martha Neil

July 7, 2008, 9:13 pm CDT

Striking back at a former partner who last month filed a defamation claim over a law firm press release that he had been fired for “extremely inappropriate personal conduct,” Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman filed a lawsuit of its own today in Manhattan Supreme Court.

In it, the law firm claims that Jeremy Pitcock, who formerly headed the Kasowitz firm’s intellectual property practice group, sexually harassed at least 12 female associates and staff, reports the New York Law Journal, in an article reprinted by New York Lawyer (reg. req.).

The 20-page complaint, which was filed on the firm’s behalf by Gandolfo DiBlasi of Sullivan & Cromwell, contends that Pitcock’s behavior included a “pattern of suggestive comments, sexual innuendo, sexual propositions, sexually oriented teasing, gender-specific jokes and obscene gestures.” It says Pitcock was fired after he made sexual advances at a 2007 holiday party to seven women and slapped one on her behind, leading to complaints.

The Kasowitz suit claims breach of contract (based on an alleged violation of its anti-harassment policy) and breach of fiduciary duty (based on an alleged violation of its partnership agreement). The action also seeks a declaratory judgment “that it has no liability to Mr. Pitcock,” as the New York Law Journal puts it.

Craig Lanza of Balestriere Lanza, who represents Pitcock, didn’t immediately return calls from the legal publication.

The former Kasowitz partner, whose move to Morgan & Finnegan as a partner made legal news headlines after the IP Law 360 website trumpeted it as a major acquisition for his new firm, has previously said in his own complaint that he accompanied a female Kasowitz associate back to her apartment and departed after a “brief, consensual kiss.”

Related coverage:

ABAJournal.com: “Kasowitz Firm Makes Clear: We Fired Former IP Head”

ABAJournal.com: “Ex-Kasowitz Partner Files $90M Suit Over Claim of ‘Extremely Inappropriate’ Conduct”

ABAJournal.com: “Some Law Firms Give Managing Partner Firing Authority”