Kelley Drye Settles EEOC Suit re Alleged Partner Age Discrimination, Will Pay $570K to One Partner
Settling an age-discrimination lawsuit brought on behalf of a partner by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a well-known 350-attorney New York law firm has agreed not to reduce its partners’ pay based on their age.
In an April 3 consent decree that was signed Tuesday by a federal magistrate judge in Manhattan, Kelley Drye & Warren didn’t admit to allegations of age discrimination but made the pay promise and agreed not to fire any employee or maintain “any formal or informal policy or practice requiring involuntary retirement of a partner” over a certain age, Bloomberg reports.
The settlement also includes a payment of $570,000 by the law firm to partner Eugene D’Ablemont, on whose behalf the EEOC brought suit for age discrimination and retaliation.
Kelley Drye will require all partners to take two hours of training on the provisions of the U.S. Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the article notes.
Additional and related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “EEOC Sues Kelley Drye, Says Pay Policy for Older Lawyers Discriminates & Seeks Sweeping Relief”
ABAJournal.com: “Kelley Drye Drops De-Equitization Policy for Older Lawyers, Says EEOC Wanted Change”
ABAJournal.com: “Docs in EEOC Case Detail 12-Year Pay Battle Between Onetime ‘Life Partner’ and Kelley Drye”
ABAJournal.com: “Partner, 66, Balks at BigLaw Retirement, May Be an Employee Under Civil Rights Statute”
