Firing back at gender bias allegations filed by a former associate, Steptoe & Johnson forcefully denied Thursday that it has a pay disparity between women and men and urged a Los Angeles federal judge to send a suit against the firm to arbitration.

Steptoe lodged a motion to compel arbitration as its first substantive filing since former associate Ji-In Houck accused the firm of discriminating against female lawyers in a class action complaint filed on June 23.