Biglaw Associate Files Discrimination Lawsuit Alleging He Was Fired Because He Doesn’t ‘Endorse The Same Leftist Worldview’
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 email out commemorating the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, in 2022 and for making a LinkedIn 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 LinkedIn 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].
