When
big
money
is
on
the
line
you
want
to
get
any
chance
of
a
suit
dismissed
as
early
as
possible.
DLA
Piper
tried
to
get
a
summary
judgement
against
Anisha
Mehta’s
claims
that
they
fired
her
over
taking
maternity
leave,
arguing
instead
that
it
was
because
she
regularly
handed
in
sloppy
work
product.
Big
if
true
—
the
sloppy
work
and
“catastrophic
blunders”
the
firm
could
muster
amounted
to
a
couple
of
typos
in
her
work
that
clients
didn’t
even
ultimately
see.
Even
if
there
were
a
couple
of
typos,
the
serial
blunderer
characterization
doesn’t
really
vibe
well
with
her
having
worked
at
the
firm
for
nearly
a
decade
and
collecting
positive
reviews
of
her
work.
For
example,
if
you
thought
one
of
your
senior
associates
was
kind
of
crappy,
why
would
you
assign
them
to
work
on
a
high
importance
matter?
District
Judge
Analisa
Torres
read
the
facts
in
Mehta’s
favor,
writing
that
“DLA
Piper’s
performance-based
rationale
for
firing
Mehta
is
‘at
best,
in
tension
with
other
evidence
in
the
record
or,
at
worst,
plainly
contradicted
by
it[.]”
If
summary
judgement
isn’t
in
your
favor
and
the
facts
don’t
seem
to
be
either,
a
jury
trial
with
an
empathetic
plaintiff
is
one
of
the
last
things
you
want
to
deal
with.
DLA
Piper
is
set
to
get
to
dealing
pretty
soon.
Reuters
has
coverage:
DLA
Piper
is
poised
to
go
to
trial
in
federal
court
in
Manhattan
on
Monday
over
claims
that
it
fired
an
associate
for
seeking
maternity
leave,
marking
a
rare
chance
for
a
jury
to
hear
an
employment
discrimination
case
against
a
major
law
firm.
This
could
very
easily
get
spun
as
“Multi-billion
dollar
law
discriminates
against
hard
working
mother
and
only
you,
the
jury,
are
the
ones
that
can
make
things
right”
at
closing
arguments.
It
doesn’t
help
that
DLA
as
a
firm
seems
to
be
less
accommodating
to
parents
and
parents
to
be
than
most;
they
made
a
firm
wide
6
week
cut
to
parental
leave
not
very
long
after
they
cut
Mehta
after
all.
Depending
on
the
strength
of
her
case
and
the
sensibilities
of
the
jury,
the
money
DLA
Piper
might
have
to
pay
out
could
cover
a
lot
of
cribs.
Earlier:
DLA
Piper
Alleges
Mom-To-Be
Fired
Because
Of
Her
‘Catastrophic
Blunders’
DLA
Piper
Sued
Over
Alleged
Pregnancy
Bias
Major
Biglaw
Firm
Slashes
Parental
Leave
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boat
builder
who
is
learning
to
swim
and
is
interested
in
rhetoric,
Spinozists
and
humor.
Getting
back
in
to
cycling
wouldn’t
hurt
either.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at
[email protected]
and
by
Tweet/Bluesky
at @WritesForRent.