Legal Tales

OK, I admit it. I do love lawyer gossip. This one is about an attorney in the Delaware County office of Cozen & O'Connor who sued the firm for sex discrimination after being terminated. What's not to like?

A former junior female partner at Cozen O'Connor has filed a sex discrimination suit against the firm that claims three partners there "prefer and promote women who fit traditional female stereotypes.”

Patricia Biswanger alleges Cozen fired her for using firm resources for political activities at the same time it permitted political involvement male attorneys . . .

This according to the ABA Journal, Bias Suit Claims Cozen Promotes ‘Compliant’ Women. As the Legal Intelligencer reports, Cozen O'Connor Faces Gender Discrimination Lawsuit:

Cozen O'Connor has been hit with a sex discrimination suit by a female lawyer who claims she was ousted from the firm in September 2005, less than a month after she filed a formal complaint of gender discrimination with the firm's director of human resources.

In the suit, attorney Patricia Biswanger claims that when her political activities in Haverford Township became controversial, Cozen O'Connor employed a double standard by prohibiting her from using any 'firm resources' for political work, while having no objection to the political activities of male attorneys.

'Numerous male attorneys at the firm are politically active, and no restrictions are placed on their political involvement,' the suit alleges. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

* * * *

But the suit alleges that starting in late 2004 and continuing throughout 2005, attorney Kevin Berry, who was chairman of the firm's commercial litigation department "embarked on a campaign of harassment" against Biswanger.

Berry did so, the suit alleges, "at the direction of Patrick J. O'Connor, then chief executive officer of the firm, and perhaps Stephen Cozen."

The harassment, the suit claims, "arose from their shared belief that it is inappropriate and unseemly for female attorneys to be politically active, especially in controversial matters."

Cozen, Berry and O'Connor, the suit alleges, "perceived politically active women as aggressive, overbearing, and unattractive, and therefore a detriment to the firm."

It also alleges that the three men "prefer and promote women who fit traditional female stereotypes of being attractive, compliant and mild-mannered, a standard that is not applied to male attorneys."

By contrast, the suit alleges, Cozen, Berry and O'Connor "had no objection to the widespread, aggressive, controversial and continuing and/or deepening political involvement of numerous male attorneys at the firm." The firm supported the political involvement of male attorneys "financially and otherwise," the suit alleges, in local, state and national politics.

Cozen & O'Connor, like many other firms, is very politically active. Patrick Murphy ran his Congressional campaign while being employed there. The Legal notes that "Cozen has been "publicly associated" with the campaigns of Gov. Edward G. Rendell, Bob Brady, Phil English and Bill Richardson, among others, and "frequently solicits firm employees for contributions to their campaigns," the suit alleges." O'Connor, who's originally from Scranton, is involved in politics in Lackawanna County.

I spent about 10 minutes at Cozen too many years ago to count, when I first moved to Philly. It was a small to mid-size firm then, but I knew very quickly after I got there that it was not for me, so I hit the road. The firm I knew is not the Cozen of today, since it moved from an insurance defense firm to an all purpose big firm, so I can't speak to its culture today. But it sounds like Biswanger may have gotten involved in some nasty politics in Havertown Township, which ended up raising the ire of then President Judge Clouse, who used his influence to go after her:

But Biswanger claims that her involvement in the contentious world of Haverford Township politics became a serious issue at the firm.

One of Biswanger's rivals in Haverford was former Delaware County President Judge Kenneth A. Clouse, the suit alleges.

Biswanger claims she had raised objections to Clouse's involvement in township politics because such conduct is prohibited for members of the judiciary.

Clouse responded, the suit alleges, by trying to contact Cozen to persuade him to fire Biswanger. But Biswanger claims that Cozen, who was chairman of the firm, "assured her that she had nothing to worry about, and that if Judge Clouse wanted to 'play politics' with him, he would 'welcome the challenge.'"

Later, the suit says, Clouse hired attorney Richard A. Sprague of Sprague & Sprague for the purpose of filing a suit against Biswanger and her political ally for allegedly defaming Clouse.

Biswanger's suit alleges that "Sprague contacted Patrick O'Connor to complain about [Biswanger's] political activities, and ... told Mr. O'Connor that if [Biswanger] were not fired, he would include the [Cozen O'Connor] firm in the suit."

Who knows what really transpired. There's probably some truth in each version of events. However, it's still fun reading about other peoples problems when you don't know them.

For more dirt, see these posts on the Inquirer's business blog, PhillyInc, Biswanger's tale of politics and (alleged) sexism at Cozen and Biswanger vs. Cozen, Part II.

Tags: News, Law, Philadelphia, Philly, Discrimination