Jones Day must produce nationwide associate pay data

The female attorneys suing Jones Day for pay discrimination scored a victory recently when a federal judge ordered the law firm to provide salary information for every associate nationwide from 2012 to 2018.

Jones Day had argued the request—covering approximately 2,000 lawyers across 18 offices—was overly broad. It sought to limit the production to a group of 580 associates who worked in its New York, Atlanta, and California offices from 2016 to 2018.

But, the judge sided with the attorneys suing Jones Day, who claimed the nationwide data may be the only way to show systemic discrimination and shed light on how bias affects the firm’s pay process. In addition, the judge noted the request wasn’t overly burdensome for the firm and that breaking the discovery (pretrial fact-finding) up into different rounds would serve only to prolong the litigation.

JPMorgan must face DOL’s broad pay bias claims

A U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) administrative law judge (ALJ) recently denied JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s request for summary judgment (dismissal without a trial) against the DOL’s claims the company discriminates against women in pay.

The government’s claims arose from an audit by the DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), which began in 2012. But, the DOL didn’t file suit until 2017, when it alleged JPMorgan’s discrimination “continues to the present.”