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Entry: Barack's Other Half Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/baracks_other_half#17644 Post contents: I wonder if this black female Harvard law school graduate is much like Mrs. Obama, just more honest. http://www.law.com/jsp/law/LawArticleFriendly.jsp?id=1196935479196 Judge Rejects Race Bias Suit Against DLA Piper Anthony Lin New York Law Journal 12-07-2007 A Manhattan federal judge has thrown out a race discrimination suit brought against DLA Piper by a former associate who claimed the firm's New York office was a hostile work environment. Charlene Morisseau, a 2001 graduate of Harvard Law School, where she was a law review editor, joined DLA Piper as a litigation associate in April 2003 but was asked to leave less than a year later. In a lawsuit filed last year, Morisseau, who is black, claimed her firing was retaliation for complaints she had made about discriminatory treatment. She requested almost $250 million in damages from the firm and the 11 partners she individually named in the suit. But Southern District of New York Judge Lewis Kaplan granted summary judgment to the firm Monday, finding that DLA Piper had put forth a "legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for plaintiff's termination." "Here, the uncontradicted evidence demonstrates that plaintiff did not perform in a manner satisfactory to Piper notwithstanding her academic credentials," the judge wrote. "She was a confrontational, stubborn, and insubordinate employee in an environment in which professional personal relations, flexibility and a willingness to accept supervision were essential." The judge deemed DLA Piper's account of events admitted because Morisseau, proceeding pro se after firing her lawyers in April, did not timely file a declaration opposing the firm's summary judgment motion, though she had been granted a number of extensions. Instead, Kaplan said he had only belatedly received from Morisseau via Federal Express "three volumes of purported exhibits" that he said were not authenticated and lacked exhibit tabs or a table of contents. The judge said he would not consider any further submissions from Morisseau, who he said had previously "defied court orders, ignored schedules, failed to show up for or obstructed her deposition, and filed frivolous applications." Morisseau claimed partners at the firm discriminated against her by treating her differently than they treated white associates. In particular, she claimed partner Douglas Rappaport tried to blame her for a mistake he allegedly made in the course of representing a widow in a proceeding before the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. She also accused former partner Aaron Katz of giving her writing skills subpar rankings on a performance review and then refusing to provide feedback justifiying his review of her work. She said both partners also disparaged her in hallway conversations as "too aggressive" and "not right for a law firm." PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR But in court filings, DLA Piper denied treating Morisseau differently and said the firm had taken action because the ex-associate had exhibited a pattern of unacceptable behavior, including yelling at partners and throwing one out of her office. The firm said Morisseau ordered former partner Marilla Ochis to "back up" out of her office after Ochis had come to discuss an e-mail exchange Morisseau had apparently taken offense to. In that exchange Ochis had told Morisseau not to be overly concerned with providing constant updates on ongoing matters but recognize that new matters might take precedence. "The world would be a nicer place if we could all keep our ducks in a row," Ochis had written, "but if the job were that easy, anyone could do it!" Morisseau replied the next day that she found the last part of Ochis' message "extremely unnecessary." Ochis said she went to Morisseau's office to explain that she had not meant anything offensive by her e-mail. According to the firm, Morisseau initially refused an assignment relating to the Victim Compensation Fund by Rappaport and later raised her voice at him in a hallway confrontation over that assignment. Morisseau was also allegedly rude to partner Heidi Levine, her designated mentor. In one instance, the firm said, Morisseau did not respond to a hello by Levine and, when the partner began to ask a question, the associate put her hand up in a stopping motion and said, "Heidi, goodbye." BAR ADMISSION The delay to her bar admission is also at issue in a discrimination and retaliation suit Morisseau has brought in federal court in Atlanta against the employer she worked for prior to joining DLA Piper. After graduating from Harvard Law, Morisseau initially worked for the Southern Center for Human Rights, the group led by well-known death penalty appellate lawyer Stephen B. Bright. In an affidavit Bright submitted for Morisseau's New York Bar application, he said she "appears unable to separate reality and fantasy" and detailed "vicious attacks" and "false allegations of outrageous conduct" she had made against many of the Center's lawyers and staff, all while "making virtually no contribution to the Center's work in the eight months she was here." "All this reflects very poorly on the professional qualifications of Morisseau to practice law," Bright wrote in his September 2004 affidavit. The Southern Center is also seeking summary judgment against Morisseau. Sent at: 2008 10 07