Proskauer partner resolves her gender bias suit against the firm
Proskauer Rose partner Connie Bertram has apparently resolved her $50 million gender bias suit against her law firm.
A stipulation filed Friday says the case is dismissed in its entirety, the American Lawyer reports. Bertram is still listed as a partner on Proskauer’s website.
Bertram is the head of Proskauer’s Washington, D.C., labor and employment practice and its government contractor compliance group, and the co-head of the firm’s whistleblowing and retaliation group.
Bertram had remained anonymous when she filed a lawsuit in May 2017. The suit claimed Bertram was paid millions of dollars less than male partners who were as productive or less productive than she was. When she complained, the suit said, she was excluded from client development activities and barred from partner meetings.
The suit also said Bertram was “overtly objectified based on her sex” when male partners commented on her body, clothing and “sexiness.”
Bertram’s name was revealed in an amended complaint filed last April. The amended suit had claimed Proskauer’s retaliation had intensified since she filed the suit.
The amended suit also claimed Proskauer had defamed Bertram in a press release.
Proskauer’s response said Bertram’s accusations were contradicted by the facts, and the suit misrepresented the firm’s “transparent and equitable compensation system.” The firm also maintained that Bertram was not entitled to sue under anti-discrimination laws because she was an equity partner.
