Last
week,
mega
Biglaw
firm
Baker
McKenzie
filed
a
lawsuit
against
a
former
associate
in
the
Superior
Court
of
the
District
of
Columbia.
The
firm’s
defamation
lawsuit
alleges
the
former
tax
associate,
Brooke
Radford,
made
repeated
allegations
on
social
media
and
Reddit
—
some
80+
of
them
—
falsely
accusing
a
partner
of
sexually
assaulting
her
and
accusing
the
firm
of
covering
it
up.
According
to
the
complaint,
available
in
full
below,
Radford
said
she
was
assaulted
by
Maurice
Bellan
(also
a
plaintiff
in
the
lawsuit)
and
was
terminated
by
the
firm
when
she
turned
down
the
partner’s
advances.
However,
the
firm
maintains
they
had
a
very
different
reason
for
her
termination.
Baker
terminated
Ms.
Radford’s
employment
during
June
2025
because
she:
(1)
made
multiple
unauthorized
personal
purchases
on
her
Firm-issued
credit
card,
including
clothing
at
high-end
clothing
stores,
first-class
airplane
tickets,
and
many
personal
food
delivery
and
Lyft
transportation
charges;
(2)
violated
other
Firm
policies;
and
(3)
refused
to
cooperate
with
a
Firm
investigation
into
the
unauthorized
charges
and
other
violations.
The
complaint
also
documents
“accusatory,
threatening,
and
otherwise
odd
comments”
Radford
made
in
a
group
text
chat
of
Baker
tax
associates.
During
June
and
July
2025,
both
after
Baker
had
informed
Ms.
Radford
that
it
was
terminating
her
employment
and
after
her
employment
officially
ended,
Ms.
Radford
texted
messages
to
a
Baker
associates’
group
text
chat
that
included,
among
other
messages:
- Accusing
her
former
colleagues
of
“oppression”;- Accusing
a
former
colleague
of
“mov[ing]
[her]
things
during
a
meeting”;- Singling
out
the
same
former
colleague
and
asking
whether
she
“would
like
to
apologize
for
anything
you’ve
done
to
me”;- Saying
that
she
“wanted
to
air
some
things
out”;
Radford
also
wrote
to
the
group
chat
songs
and
albums
about
revenge,
specifically
“5
AM
in
Philly,”
and
the
album
“AI
Youngboy
2.”
The
complaint
also
details
“threatening”
text
messages
Radford
sent
to
Bellan
after
she
was
terminated
that
included
details
on
tragic
news
stories,
a
rap
song
about
violent
retribution,
and
one
that
said
“The
next
person
that
contacts
me
on
your
behalf
will
be
informed
that
you
offered
me
$50,000
to
have
your
grandchild
then
fired
me
because
I
chose
not
to.
I
suggest
you
call
it
quits
before
I
let
everyone
know
everything.”
Before
the
firm
filed
their
lawsuit,
Radford
said
she
planned
legal
action,
but
she’s
not
commented
on
the
lawsuit
Baker
McKenzie
filed.
The
firm’s
spokesperson
said
of
the
suit,
“Ms.
Radford’s
public
statements
are
false,
defamatory
and
malicious.”
The
firm
is
seeking
injunctive
relief
and
monetary
damages.
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
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on
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@Kathryn1 or
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@[email protected].