Winston & Strawn is being sued by a group led by affirmative action foe Edward Blum, the third lawsuit against a law firm over a diversity fellowship program.
Blum’s American Alliance for Equal Rights alleges Winston & Strawn’s program “discriminates against certain applicants because of their race.”
The group is pressing law firms to make changes in diversity fellowship program eligibility. American Alliance dropped lawsuits against Perkins Coie and Morrison Foerster after the firms made changes.
“It is our hope that Winston & Strawn will be compelled by the courts to follow the law,” Blum said in a statement.
American Alliance sent letters to Adams Reese, Hunton Andrews & Kurth and Winston & Strawn threatening potential legal action.
Winston responded to the letter on Oct. 13. “Your implication that the terms ‘disadvantaged’ and ‘historically underrepresented’ necessarily refer to race is baseless,” Winston partner Cardelle Spangler said. “Winston & Strawn does not make employment decisions on the basis of race or ethnicity.”
The firm did not respond to immediate requests for comment about the lawsuit.
A separate Blum group sued Harvard University, resulting in the Supreme Court decision striking down affirmative action in higher education admissions.
The case is American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Winston & Strawn LLP, S.D. Tex., No. 4:23-cv-04113, 10/30/23.
To contact the reporter on this story:
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Learn more about Bloomberg Law or Log In to keep reading:
See Breaking News in Context
Bloomberg Law provides trusted coverage of current events enhanced with legal analysis.
Already a subscriber?
Log in to keep reading or access research tools and resources.