Law360, King & Spalding Fights Bias Suit Over Summer Program:
King & Spalding LLP is urging a Maryland federal judge to toss a discrimination suit filed by a straight white woman who says she was dissuaded from applying to a summer associate program open only to "diverse" applicants, arguing the student suffered no injury since she did not apply.
The firm says Sarah Spitalnick's view that she wouldn't be welcome in its program sponsored by the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity since it seeks students with "an ethnically or culturally diverse background or member[s] of the LGBT community" is "misguided."
Reuters, Law Firm King & Spalding Slams Bias Lawsuit Over Diversity Program:
Law firm King & Spalding has asked a U.S. judge to dismiss what it called a “misguided” lawsuit by a white, female lawyer accusing the firm of bias for a job program focused on boosting diversity for early-career attorneys.
The law firm said in a Maryland federal court filing on Thursday night that the program was not discriminatory and that the plaintiff, Sarah Spitalnick, cannot claim she was unlawfully excluded because she never applied to the summer associate position in question.
Spitalnick’s “failure to be selected is a self-inflicted wound,” the law firm told U.S. District Judge James Bredar in Baltimore. “Plaintiff’s choice not to apply is the reason why she was not considered, let alone selected.”
Large law firms, major colleges, U.S. companies and other entities have faced increasing scrutiny over diversity initiatives in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s blockbuster ruling in 2023 ending affirmative action.
Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:
- Straight, White Female Alleges King & Spalding's Summer Associate Diversity Fellowship Violated Title VII (May 21, 2024)
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