Julie E. Kamps, a former associate with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, has filed a complaint with the US Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, as well as the New York State Division of Human Rights and the New York City Commission on Human Rights.
The complaint charges Fried Frank with discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, on the basis of sex and sexual orientation.
Kamps joined Fried, Frank’s New York litigation department as an associate attorney in October 1998, just after graduating from Harvard Law. She alleges she was denied promotion.
She says the firm hires many of its female partners laterally, rather than developing female associates and promoting from within the firm. In addition, during her decade-long tenure at the firm, there has never been more than one openly gay partner and no openly gay partners in the New York litigation department where she worked.
According to Kamps, “Fried, Frank’s diversity efforts stop at the door to the partnership.”
The complaint comes after a failed attempt at mediating Kamps’ claims in January. According to the complaint, the firm has subjected Kamps to a long course of adverse action, including firing her during the mediation session aimed at settling the matter.
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP is an international law firm with offices in New York City, Washington DC, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Hong Kong and Shanghai. The firm has more than 600 attorneys worldwide.