Last
year,
news
broke
about
William
D.
Brown
Jr.,
a
former
associate
at
McCarter
&
English,
who,
in
the
wake
of
his
firing
from
Biglaw,
blamed
his
new
employment
status
on
a
“political
purge”
of
conservatives
and
a
LinkedIn
post
he
penned
about
“gangsta
rap”
and
violence
in
the
Muslim
world,
which
the
firm
contended
advanced
harmful
racial
stereotypes.
TBH,
in
the
11
months
since
I
first
wrote
about
Brown,
I’d
forgotten
all
the
discrimination
he
claimed
to
experience
during
his
time
in
Biglaw,
and
I
can
only
assure
you
it’s
QUITE
THE
JOURNEY.
Well,
Brown
has
finally
filed
a
lawsuit
in
Essex
County
Superior
Court
in
New
Jersey
against
McCarter
&
English.
The
actual
filing
alleges
it
was
Brown’s
veteran
status
and
complaints
about
unequal
pay
were
the
*real*
reasons
for
his
dismissal
and
the
the
firm’s
concerns
about
the
controversial
“gangsta
rap”
social
media
post
were
merely
a
smokescreen
for
discriminatory
behavior.
According
to
the
complaint,
“No
other
protected
class
was
subjected
to
such
treatment
within
the
defendant’s
workplace,
which
was
replete
with
a
robust
DEI
and
Social
Justice
structure
which
wholly
neglected
the
tiny
minority
of
veterans
within
their
own
ranks
at
the
firm.”
As
reported
by
Law.com:
The
complaint
further
details
allegations
of
Brown
being
excluded
from
the
firm’s
annual
diversity
retreat
despite
his
veteran
status
throughout
his
time
at
the
firm,
as
well
as
being
“berated”
for
asking
why
the
firm’s
DEI
committee
failed
to
send
an
out
commemorating
the
terrorist
attacks
on
Sept.
11,
2001,
in
2022
and
for
making
a
post
in
2023
observing
that
veterans
“are
paid
substantially
less
for
the
same
work
as
others
and
then
pressured
out
and
denied
opportunities
when
we
speak
up
for
ourselves.”The
day
after
he
made
that
post,
Brown
claims,
he
was
brought
into
a
conference
room
with
the
firm’s
managing
partner,
Joseph
Boccassini,
and
employment
equity
partner
Adam
Saravay
and
asked
“if
he
was
mentally
sound.”“The
implication
of
violent
intent
…
plays
into
the
worst
media
stereotypes
of
veterans
as
mentally
damaged
and
dangerous,”
the
complaint
reads.
As
a
career
bankruptcy
associate,
Brown
made
less
than
newly
hired
associates.
The
complaint
also
points
to
his
efforts
“to
receive
fair
and
equal
pay
for
the
same
work,”
as
motivation
for
his
firing.
Additionally,
Brown
asserts
the
firm
assigned
him
sexual-abuse
defense
work
in
an
effort
to
push
him
out
of
McCarter.
Brown
also
sought
a
referral
for
a
fellow
veteran
facing
charges
related
to
the
January
6th
insurrection.
The
firm
did
not
provide
one,
and
that’s
another
complaint
Brown
lodges
about
his
time
at
the
firm.
“At
defendant
McCarter
there
were
clearly
separate
standards
of
acceptable
conduct
in
interaction
with
those
employees
who
adhered
to
political
left
orthodoxy,
and
those
who
committed
political
heresy
by
supporting
the
rights
of
the
accused
who
happened
to
not
endorse
the
same
leftist
worldview.”
A
spokesperson
for
McCarter
&
English
provided
the
following
statement:
“As
always
with
an
initial
complaint,
it
tells
one
side
of
the
story.
Once
the
full
history
is
brought
to
light,
we
are
confident
we
will
be
fully
vindicated.
We
intend
to
defend
this
case
against
the
firm
and
clear
the
names
of
those
individuals
referenced
within
the
complaint.”
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].