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Legal Job Lawsuit Seeks Redress For Religious Discrimination

By lawjobspipeline

Discrimination lawsuits have become more prevalent in the legal profession as the legal environment becomes both more competitive and also lawyers become more assertive over their rights, be they age, sex or, in the case of a former Allen & Overy associate, religious.

Former A&O associate Norman Schoenfeld, who worked at the firm from August to October this year, is bringing an action against the firm under the Human Rights Law, the City Law and Labour Law in the US, claiming discrimination after he sought to observe the Jewish sabbath each week (from sundown friday to sundown Saturday).

Legal media reports indicate that Schoenfeld claims that he was told to work on a religious holiday despite warning his supervising partner well in advance that he would not be able to do so for religous reasons. He alleges that his employment was subsequently terminated because the firm claimed he was unable to carry out his job adequately.

Allen & Overy claims his employment was terminated on performance grounds within his trial period. It will be interesting to see the extent to which the courts treat the claim. 

Full post as published by lawjobspipeline.com Blog on December 26, 2007 (boomark / email).