Two items here, tied together only by the common theme of EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) aggressiveness.
EEOC takes on Big Labor
The EEOC took on the nation’s largest public employee union, AFSCME, when the union insisted on dues payments from a man who objected on religious grounds to the union’s support of abortion and same-sex marriage.
The union allowed employees belonging to churches historically opposed to unionization to avoid payment of dues by paying an equivalent amount to charity. But it refused to allow employees not belonging to such churches to do so, although they also had sincere religious objections to supporting the union.
The EEOC claimed the union’s conduct was religious discrimination. The case was settled by a consent decree, according to this EEOC press release.
If approved by the court, the union would have to accommodate state employees with sincere religious objections to associating with or financially supporting unions, whether or not members and adherents of a particular religion.
Probably not, but makes you wonder. Keep it mind that because this was settled, no new law on this point was actually made. However, the EEOC might take such a case again — maybe taking it to an actual court ruling next time.
EEOC Takes on Big Law
A motion to compel that raises issues of attorney-client privilege is the latest development in the EEOC’s age-discrimination case against mega-firm Sidley Austin (with over 1,600 lawyers and 15 offices in North America, Europe and Asia, one of the world’s largest law firms).
The EEOC has moved to compel testimony about recent conversations between partners and a former financial director who signed a 1999 letter stating that the firm had a mandatory retirement policy.
Sidley has denied having such a policy in the face of an EEOC suit claiming the Chicago-based law firm discriminated against 31 partners on the basis of age when it demoted them to counsel in 1999. The EEOC has claimed the financial director’s letter “flatly contradicts” the firm’s position. . . .
The letter is signed by William B. White, financial director.
According to the EEOC motion . . . , White testified at a . . . deposition that he believed the letter to be an accurate statement of the firm’s retirement policy at the time he signed it. But he also testified that, after conversations earlier this year with Sidley partners William F. Conlon and Theodore N. Miller, he realized the letter did not accurately state firm policy.
The lawyer representing Sidley at the deposition . . . objected to questions about these conversations on the grounds that they were privileged. The EEOC is seeking to compel White’s testimony about them.
“This motion presents the classic example of a Defendant seeking to use the attorney-client and work-product privileges to improperly thwart the Plaintiff’s discovery into areas that are potentially damaging for the Defendant,” the EEOC claims.
The agency argues the conversations are not privileged because White, who is retired but still works at Sidley on a contract basis, was not seeking legal advice from either Miller, who is vice chairman of the firm’s management committee and a member of its executive committee, or Conlon, an executive committee member who acts as the firm’s general counsel. . . .
In its suit against Sidley Austin, the EEOC has taken the novel position that the demoted partners were employees because they never voted on firm policy and all decisions, including partner compensation, were made by the firm’s self-selecting executive committee.
The suit, which is seeking back pay for the demoted partners, could have far-reaching effect on the profession, as many large law firms have adopted similarly centralized management structures in recent years.
But what really grabbed my attention was that this case shows how hard the EEOC lawyers fight — even against some of the best (at least highest-paid) lawyers in the world — once they decide to take a case to court.
Source
New York Law Journal: “EEOC Seeks Key Testimony in Sidley Austin Age Discrimination Suit”
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