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Judge Dismisses Dueling Suits Between Firm, Ex-Partner Fired Over Sexual Harassment
New York Law Journal
October 07, 2009
A nearly two year-long public brawl between Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman and a former partner it fired for sexual harassment could be quieting down now that a Manhattan Supreme Court judge has dismissed both parties' lawsuits.
Justice Martin Shulman last week found "unavailing" and "unpersuasive" the arguments made against the firm by intellectual property lawyer Jeremy Pitcock, who sued for defamation, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty.
The judge also found Kasowitz Benson failed to show how Pitcock had damaged the firm.
Eric Wallach, a partner at Kasowitz Benson named as a defendant, said he and the firm had no comment.
Craig Stuart Lanza of Balestriere Lanza in Manhattan, who represents Pitcock, said his client was pleased the court dismissed all of Kasowitz Benson's claims against him and he is reviewing his options.
The lawsuits stemmed from a messy public parting between Kasowitz Benson and Pitcock, the former chair of its intellectual property practice. Kasowitz Benson fired him in December 2007 after a holiday party where the firm claims Pitcock made sexual advances toward at least seven female employees.
Pitcock in January 2008 joined Morgan & Finnegan. An article in the trade publication IP Law 360 reported at the time that Morgan had "nabbed" Kasowitz's IP leader and that Pitcock had "jumped ship."
Kasowitz Benson said that to address questions from clients about the viability of its IP group, it issued a press release saying it had terminated Pitcock for "extremely inappropriate personal misconduct."
Morgan & Finnegan ousted Pitcock not long after Kasowitz issued the release. (Morgan & Finnegan, an IP boutique, filed for bankruptcy in February.)
The negative press release was a rarity in the legal profession.
In 2002, Pillsbury Winthrop issued a statement claiming a partner who left for Latham & Watkins had departed "on the heels of sexual harassment allegations" after "a significant decline in his productivity." The partner, Frode Jensen III, sued the firm, calling the allegations false. The suit settled for what The American Lawyer reported as $5 million to $10 million.
In June 2008, Pitcock sued Kasowitz Benson in federal district court in Manhattan, charging his former partners with defamation, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty for firing him and publicizing the incident. Pitcock was unable to find another "suitable" legal job after the press release and subsequent articles, his complaint claimed. His lawyers later withdrew the federal case and refiled in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Kasowitz Benson, represented by Gandolfo DiBlasi, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, in July 2008 shot back with a separate state court action against Pitcock, accusing him of breach of fiduciary duty to the firm and breach of contract after he allegedly harassed at least 12 female employees, including seven during its 2007 holiday party. The two suits were later consolidated.
