Former MoFo Attorneys Want New Look at Dismissed Leave Claim

Former Morrison & Foerster LLP lawyers suing the firm over alleged gender discrimination want the Northern District of California to let them argue it applied the wrong standard when it granted summary judgment for the firm on one of the associate’s maternity-based claims under the Family Medical Leave Act.

The motion, filed Tuesday, argues that the court made “clear error” by applying the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework—which applies to Title VII discrimination claims—to plaintiff Joshua Ashley Klayman’s claim that the firm declined to promote her as a result of her taking maternity leave.

McDonnell Douglas provides that, after a plaintiff ...