Ex-Stoel Rives partner drops age bias suit; law firm says he got firing date wrong by over a year
Former Stoel Rives partner Roger Rosendahl dropped his age bias suit against the law firm last Wednesday in a filing posted to Pacer the same day the law firm asserted that he got the date of his firing wrong—by more than a year.
Rosendahl’s pro se suit had claimed he was fired in December 2017 in a “blindside termination without notice, warning or explanation any kind.” But a declaration filed in support of the law firm’s motion to dismiss says Rosendahl was actually terminated on Dec. 6, 2016, more than a year before he filed his suit on Dec. 21, 2017.
The District of Columbia Human Rights Act allows suits only within one year of the alleged discrimination, according to Stoel Rives’ motion to dismiss.
Nelson Mullins announced in June 2018 that Rosendahl was joining the firm as a partner.
Stoel Rives filed its motion to dismiss on Aug. 1. That same day, the federal court received Rosendahl’s notice of voluntary dismissal, though the date on the notice is July 27. The dismissal is without prejudice, meaning it could still be refiled.
The law firm’s motion to dismiss said Rosendahl’s age bias claims were filed too late, and most of the partners he sued aren’t subject to the jurisdiction of courts in Washington, D.C.
Stole Rives also said Rosendahl had not met expectations, leading to his demotion to a contract lawyer position effective January 2016 and the firm’s decision to “part ways” with Rosendahl in December 2016. In addition, the firm said that Rosendahl’s other tort and contract claims were “insufficiently pled” and “too vaguely pled.”
Law360 reported July 27 that Rosendahl was dropping the suit, and Rosendahl made the same assertion to the National Law Journal before his dismissal motion was received by the federal court.
When the ABA Journal called Rosendahl for comment on Monday, he said he was in a meeting and would return the call later. The ABA Journal sent a follow-up email to him at Nelson Mullins. Rosendahl responded that any inquiries should be sent to his personal email address. He did not immediately respond to an email sent to that address.
Rosendahl’s suit said he didn’t disclose he was 73 when he joined the firm in April 2014. According to his suit, Stoel Rives “isolated, disparaged and harassed him” after learning his age. The suit had claimed Rosendahl was excluded from key work he developed for the firm, his work credit and responsibilities were assigned to younger partners, and he was excluded from client pitches.
His suit had alleged age discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, conversion of origination credit, fraudulent inducement “to play along with [the firm’s] actions,” breach of his initial engagement agreement, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, defamation, extortion through threatening Rosendahl’s standing in the firm, creation of a hostile work environment, and retaliation.
