Norton Rose Fulbright has agreed to pay three partners from the legacy US firm with which it merged more than $3 million to settle claims that it systematically discriminated against female lawyers.
In 2016 US litigation partner Kerrie Campbell sued Chadbourne & Parke, which merged with NRF last year, for underpaying her. She framed her complaint as a class action on behalf of the firm's female partnership, prompting all but one of her 15 female colleagues to sign an open letter deriding her characterisation of their situation. Two women, retired Chadbourne partner Mary Yelenick and former Kiev office head Jaroslawa Johnson, joined her sex discrimination claim. Yelenick, a 35-year Chadbourne veteran, said that during her employment, "I believe Chadbourne paid me less than men who performed similar work”.
What followed was a public and sometimes bizarre exchange of accusations. In a rambling statement given to RollOnFriday last year, a spokesman for Chadbourne said that Campbell's allegations were "riddled with falsehoods". When Campbell was fired in 2017, she accused NRF of demanding her dismissal as a condition of the merger. She also alleged that CCTV footage showed Abbe Lowell, a Chadbourne partner who is now NRF's US co-head of regulations and compliance, tearing down a motivational postcard quoting Nelson Mandela which was on her office wall and replacing it with a smiley face and a cartoon "of a fat man in a bowler hat".
The parties appear to have agreed that it's best to draw a veil over the affair. As part of the proposed settlement agreement, which is otherwise private, NRF has agreed to shell out $1 million plus $538,461 in legal fees to Campbell, $750,000 plus $403,846 in fees to Yelenick, and $250,000 plus $134,615 in fees to Johnson. A spokeswoman for NRF said, "The motion is pending with the court. We are hopeful that it will be granted and we have nothing further to add". It's been a long walk to freedom.
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In 2016 US litigation partner Kerrie Campbell sued Chadbourne & Parke, which merged with NRF last year, for underpaying her. She framed her complaint as a class action on behalf of the firm's female partnership, prompting all but one of her 15 female colleagues to sign an open letter deriding her characterisation of their situation. Two women, retired Chadbourne partner Mary Yelenick and former Kiev office head Jaroslawa Johnson, joined her sex discrimination claim. Yelenick, a 35-year Chadbourne veteran, said that during her employment, "I believe Chadbourne paid me less than men who performed similar work”.
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Campbell, Yelenick and Johnson, scooping a fortune from NRF. |
What followed was a public and sometimes bizarre exchange of accusations. In a rambling statement given to RollOnFriday last year, a spokesman for Chadbourne said that Campbell's allegations were "riddled with falsehoods". When Campbell was fired in 2017, she accused NRF of demanding her dismissal as a condition of the merger. She also alleged that CCTV footage showed Abbe Lowell, a Chadbourne partner who is now NRF's US co-head of regulations and compliance, tearing down a motivational postcard quoting Nelson Mandela which was on her office wall and replacing it with a smiley face and a cartoon "of a fat man in a bowler hat".
The parties appear to have agreed that it's best to draw a veil over the affair. As part of the proposed settlement agreement, which is otherwise private, NRF has agreed to shell out $1 million plus $538,461 in legal fees to Campbell, $750,000 plus $403,846 in fees to Yelenick, and $250,000 plus $134,615 in fees to Johnson. A spokeswoman for NRF said, "The motion is pending with the court. We are hopeful that it will be granted and we have nothing further to add". It's been a long walk to freedom.