US law firm Troutman agrees to settle bias suit by fired Black lawyer

By David Thomas

April 6 (Reuters) - U.S. law firm Troutman Pepper Locke said Monday that it is finalizing a settlement with a former lawyer at the firm who claimed she faced discrimination because she is Black and then was fired for complaining about her treatment.

The firm and its former associate Gita Sankano said in a joint filing in federal court in Washington, D.C., that they reached a settlement in principle and would seek to dismiss the lawsuit. No details of the settlement were disclosed.

"Both we and Ms. Sankano are pleased that a settlement of this matter has been reached," Michael Willemin, a partner at Wigdor who is representing Sankano, said in a statement.

Attorneys and a spokesperson for Troutman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trial was scheduled to begin next month in Sankano's lawsuit, which alleged she was fired in November 2023 in retaliation for filing an internal discrimination complaint against a partner who demeaned and demoralized her because of her race. Sankano sought at least $35 million in economic and punitive damages, according to her pretrial statement.

Sankano said she was the only Black attorney in Pepper Hamilton's D.C. office when she joined the firm in 2019, a year before the firm merged with Troutman Sanders. She alleged that another partner "stole" her billable hours by requiring her to keep them out of the firm’s billing system, and left out of associate trainings.

Troutman Pepper had argued Sankano was terminated due to her performance and that her claims were meritless.

Sankano had also sued legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa over allegations of "blackballing." Sankano said top recruiters at the company warned her not to sue Troutman Pepper, and that a day after she did so, MLA informed her that a position she was seeking at a different firm was no longer available.

MLA denied wrongdoing. In May, Sankano and the company informed a federal judge in Greenbelt, Maryland, that the lawsuit was being dismissed with prejudice.