On its Web site, the Sacramento, Calif., litigation boutique Ellis, Coleman, Poirier, LaVoie & Steinheimer touts its mission to promote women in the legal profession. Founded by Mark E. Ellis last fall, the 13-lawyer firm says it is 50 percent women-owned and that two of its name partners are leaders in a local bar association dedicated to the advancement of women.

But multiple lawsuits filed against Ellis over the past eight years paint a starkly different picture of the attorney's attitude toward women. And according to his former firm, the most recent allegations of misconduct led them to show Ellis the door.

Before striking out on his own, Ellis was a longtime partner in the Sacramento office of Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney, defending lawyers accused of malpractice.

Three women who worked with Ellis at Murphy Pearson filed separate suits against both the attorney and the firm, alleging sexual harassment and workplace discrimination. A fourth suit, filed by one of Ellis' clients, alleged that Ellis abused the attorney-client privilege for his "own personal, sexual and emotional gratification."

Two of the employee suits allege that Murphy Pearson turned a deaf ear to numerous oral and written complaints flowing from the Sacramento office to its San Francisco headquarters. The most recent complaint (.pdf) was filed last month in San Francisco Superior Court by former office manager Susan Ramsey, who is represented by S.F. employment lawyer Therese Lawless.

Defense attorneys for Ellis, led by Gordon & Rees partner Michael Lucey, deny all of Ramsey's allegations. In response to the other lawsuits, Gordon & Rees senior counsel Mark Posard said Ellis has always unequivocally denied any wrongdoing and that he "was never given the opportunity to prove his innocence" because the previous matters had all been settled. The settlements, he added, were the result of a "business judgment" made by Murphy Pearson.

Murphy Pearson's lawyer, Gregory Simonian of San Bruno, Calif.-based Clapp, Moroney, Bellagamba & Vucinich, disputed the allegations that the firm did not respond to the most recent complaints about Ellis.

"Once Susan Ramsey brought her complaint to the attention of management," Simonian said in a recent telephone conversation, "Murphy Pearson immediately launched an investigation and, on the basis of that investigation, made a decision to terminate Mr. Ellis' employment at the law firm.

"To be specific, the shareholders unanimously voted him out of the firm," Simonian said.

Posard maintains his client left Murphy Pearson of his own accord, motivated by a desire to open his own firm. "Our client has no information about a partnership vote with respect to his employment at this time," Posard said.

One Sacramento lawyer who used to work with Ellis said the pro-women rhetoric and activity at Ellis' new firm is unsettling, in light of the allegations. Karen Goodman was the managing partner of the Sacramento office of Murphy Pearson until 1999, when she left to open her own firm in Sacramento, Goodman & Associates.

"I'm naturally troubled by the inconsistency of the situation on a personal level," Goodman said. "It's appalling."

But another longtime colleague finds the allegations against Ellis hard to believe. Theresa LaVoie, a Murphy Pearson associate who came over to Ellis' firm as an equity partner, said that she has not read the complaints by Ramsey and by a former Murphy Pearson associate, Chie Walker. But based on her experiences with Ellis, she doesn't believe them. "If I thought for a minute that there was any veracity or truth to any of the allegations by Susan Ramsey or Chie Walker, I wouldn't be with Mr. Ellis," she said.

'A BULLY'

In court documents the various plaintiffs allege a hostile work environment generated by repeated, unwelcome remarks described as sexual in nature and, in some cases, unwanted propositioning and unsolicited touching.

Two of the most recent complaints charge that Murphy Pearson has a history of ignoring complaints about Ellis' behavior. Ellis was elevated to the partnership in 1992.

In her complaint, former Sacramento office manager Ramsey said Ellis was "a bully who made offensive, sexually suggestive comments" in her presence throughout her employment, which lasted from August 2004 until June 2006. Ramsey said she left the firm because of Ellis.

Ellis, for example, asked Ramsey if she knew what he liked in an employee and, in answer to his own question, said that he liked "boobs," and that was why he kept Ramsey around, according to the complaint.

He allegedly inquired about Ramsey's religious affiliation. When she responded that she was a Presbyterian, Ellis asked if Presbyterians had orgasms.

The harassment wasn't just verbal, according to the complaint. At a February 2006 work event, Ellis allegedly became "very drunk," and asked Ramsey to "show him her boobs." He later allegedly "slowly and deliberately ran his hand up and down her bottom."

While Ellis' attorneys have not yet answered Ramsey's suit in court, Posard said Ellis and Ramsey had worked side by side for years "without complaint" and added that "there are serious questions regarding Ramsey's motivations."

Posard said that evidence gleaned through their own investigation "directly contradicts that which is in the complaints," and that Ellis will be exonerated of any wrongdoing if the evidence is put in front of a jury.

"We believe that there are witnesses that will corroborate Mr. Ellis' innocence," Posard said.

ALLEGATIONS BY AN ASSOCIATE

Ramsey isn't the first to file this type of complaint.

As an associate, Chie Walker reported directly to Ellis from October 2005 to May 2006, and she sued in September 2006 (.pdf) in San Francisco Superior Court. Walker said in her complaint that she left her job because Ellis had "conditioned ... her employment on having a sexual relationship with him."

Ellis allegedly told Walker he didn't hire her for her resume and that he "only hires people that he is sexually attracted to." In the complaint, Walker further alleges that Ellis told her "all of the guys that she dated before were warm-ups for him," and that Walker needed "a strong, powerful man like" him in her life.

Walker's complaint also alleged Ellis grabbed the breasts and buttocks of female employees at Murphy Pearson functions.

In his answer to the complaint, Ellis denied each and every allegation leveled by Walker, adding that she is not "entitled to any relief whatsoever."

The suit was resolved by confidential settlement in June, according to court docket listings and lawyers.

Ellis left Murphy Pearson in September 2006 -- the same month associate Walker filed her complaint -- after a 19-year run with the firm. He had decided to leave to start his own firm before any alleged partnership vote, Posard said.

Five associates made the move with him, including three women: June Coleman, Wendy Vierra and LaVoie.

LaVoie, who is a candidate for the State Bar Board of Governors, said she has worked closely with Ellis since 1999 and that Ellis offered equity partnership. "I will tell you, I hesitated not a second," LaVoie said. "In my working with Mr. Ellis it's always been above-board professionally. He's always been extremely ethical."

TWO OTHER SUITS

In July 2000, Molly Vida, formerly a Murphy Pearson legal secretary, sued Ellis and the firm in federal court for sexual harassment and discrimination.

Murphy Pearson counsel Simonian, who was retained in October 2006, said the firm cooperated with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a conciliation process in that case. Murphy Pearson suspended Ellis without pay, sent him to counseling and obtained a pre-signed letter of resignation in case new complaints arose against him. Murphy Pearson partner Michael Bradley said that to his best recollection, the firm took those measures no later than 2001.

"The firm had no other knowledge of issues with Mr. Ellis until 2006," Simonian said.

Although not an employment suit, a plaintiff listed in court documents as Kathleen Doe filed a legal malpractice suit against Ellis and Murphy Pearson in Sacramento County Superior Court in 1999.

Doe's complaint (.pdf) charged that Ellis became privy to Doe's psychological records while representing her in a personal injury matter and used that knowledge to establish a "sexual relationship and other sexual conduct" toward the plaintiff. As a result, Doe said she was "caused to endure a period of representation compromised by self-interest" of Ellis during which she was overcharged $30,265.

Said conduct, the complaint goes on, is "especially egregious in light of defendant's own experience defending attorneys." Doe was represented by Sacramento attorney Noel Ferris.

The suit was settled in 1999.

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