Former partner with Asperger's alleges bonus bias, solicitation of prostitutes by colleague
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A former law firm partner with Asperger’s syndrome alleges in a lawsuit that his firm, Patterson & Sheridan, failed to curb discriminatory actions by one partner while overlooking the conduct of another who solicited prostitutes while at the office.
The plaintiff, John Carey, worked at the Palo Alto, California, office of Patterson & Sheridan, a Houston-based intellectual property law firm, the Houston Business Journal reports.
Carey says his bonus was reduced to $30,000 in 2011, even though his collections in 2010 exceeded $3 million, according to the Houston Business Journal story. The amount was “significantly less than what Carey’s nondisabled colleagues received,” the suit says. Another partner who produced similar revenue received a $150,000 bonus, according to the Houston Business Journal’s summary of the complaint.
The suit says the firm allowed “Partner A” to “engage in open, malicious and targeted discrimination and harassment” of Carey based on his disability. In one instance, the suit says, “Partner A barged into Carey’s office and started yelling at Carey about how Carey’s ‘ticks’ were ‘pissing off the staff’ and that ‘everyone’ was about to ‘walk’ because of it.”
“Partner B,” on the other hand, was never penalized though he solicited prostitutes from his office during business hours, the suit alleges.
Patterson & Sheridan released a statement to the Houston Business Journal. “We investigated Mr. Carey’s claims and consider them to be baseless and unsupported by the facts,” the statement said. “We have worked for some time to resolve Mr. Carey’s complaints to his satisfaction, but have not been able to do so. Our goal is to resolve this matter quickly and appropriately so we can continue our good work for clients, and Mr. Carey can move forward with his professional endeavors elsewhere.”
