1. Home
2. Daily News
3. Will diversity policy affect hiring of independent…

Diversity

Will diversity policy affect hiring of independent monitor in Boeing case? Federal judge wants to know

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 17, 2024, 11:11 am CDT

A federal judge considering a proposed plea agreement between Boeing and the U.S. Department of Justice wants to know how diversity, equity and inclusion policies will influence the selection of a monitor to assess compliance.

In an Oct. 15 order, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas ordered briefing on the issue, report Reuters and the Associated Press.

Reed wants to know “what role Boeing’s internal focus on DEI impacts its compliance and ethics obligations,” the order said.

He also wants the government to explain how its diversity policy “furthers compliance and ethics efforts” and how it will be used in selecting a monitor.

The AP described Reed as “a favorite of conservative lawyers looking for a court to hear their lawsuits against policies issued by Democratic presidents.” He is an appointee of former President George W. Bush.

The deal before O’Connor calls for Boeing to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States for misleading the Federal Aviation Administration about a new flight-control system. The technology allegedly played a role in plane crashes that killed 346 people.

The deal calls for Boeing to pay a $487.2 million fine, with credit for $243.6 million Boeing previously paid under a deferred prosecution agreement, according to a July government court filing. The deal also calls for Boeing to spend at least $455 million on compliance and safety programs over a three-year probationary period. The monitor would be chosen by the government with feedback from Boeing.

The AP spoke with John C. Coffee Jr., a professor at Columbia Law School, about Reed’s inquiry into DEI policies.

“I do not see this as a strategic move but as a detour motivated by the court’s skepticism of DEI,” Coffee said.

Hat tip to the Volokh Conspiracy, which linked to the order in a post by Paul Cassell, a professor at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law.

Cassell represents families of crash victims and thinks that the deal fails to hold Boeing accountable for the deaths.

1. Home
2. Daily News
3. Suit alleging Jones Day’s family-leave policy…

Law Firms

Suit alleging Jones Day’s family-leave policy discriminates against men can go to trial, judge rules

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 26, 2024, 10:52 am CDT

A federal judge has ruled that two former associates at Jones Day can go to trial on seven claims against the law firm, including allegations that its family-leave policy discriminates against male attorneys.

U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss of Washington, D.C., ruled in a brief Sept. 25 order. He temporarily sealed a decision with his reasoning to allow for proposed redactions to protect confidential business information and privacy interests of third parties.

Law360, Reuters, Law.com and Bloomberg Law have coverage.

The plaintiffs, Mark Savignac and his wife, Julia Sheketoff, had challenged Jones Day’s family-leave policy that grants 18 weeks of paid leave to new mothers who are primary caregivers but only 10 weeks to biological fathers in the same situation. The extra eight weeks for mothers are labeled disability leave, but the reality is that all biological mothers are given the extra paid time off, the lawsuit alleged.

The two lawyers say they complained about the Jones Day policies in a January 2019 email shortly after Sheketoff left the firm to become an appellate public defender. Savignac was fired three business days later.

Moss had allowed the August 2019 suit to proceed to discovery in September 2020. The former associates filed a third amended complaint in September 2022.

In his Sept. 25 order, Moss allowed claims of sex discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Equal Pay Act and the D.C. Human Rights Act. He also allowed claims of retaliation in violation of Title VII, the Fair Labor Standards Act as amended by the Equal Pay Act and the D.C. Human Rights Act.

He tossed claims, however, of sex discrimination based on Sheketoff’s performance review and pay and the firm’s “black box” compensation system. He also tossed claims that Jones Day interfered with Savignac’s protected right to family leave by firing him while on leave.

Savignac and Sheketoff are former law clerks for then-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

Thanks to nearly two-years of COVID-19-related shutdowns and sheltering-in-place orders, working from home has become the new normal. Face-to-face interactions have been replaced by meeting on real-time videoconferencing platforms such as Zoom, FaceTime or Microsoft Teams, while cloud-based collaborative programs have become absolutely vital if any work is to be done.

And, of course, long commutes and dressing up in business casual or office attire have been replaced by rolling out of bed and making sure you’re somewhat presentable when you fire up the camera on your home computer.

As with many things that people are forced to do for extended periods of time, many got used to the new normal and actually found some of it to be enjoyable and more productive. As things are opening up again and people are getting back to how they lived before the COVID-19 pandemic, will that spell the end of the remote-work era?

Not for Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. The litigation powerhouse made headlines in December, when it announced that partners and staff could work from home permanently if they chose to. At the time, founding partner and chairman John B. Quinn said adopting this policy would allow the firm to recruit the best litigators, regardless of where their desks were.

Quinn joins the ABA Journal’s Victor Li to talk about the reasoning behind that policy and the challenges of maintaining the firm’s culture in an increasingly virtual world. Quinn also talks about how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the practice of law, especially in the litigation world in which Quinn Emanuel makes its money and reputation.