Morrison & Foerster is asking for sanctions against Sanford Heisler Sharp, which has brought a gender discrimination lawsuit against the firm, as well as one of the plaintiffs in the suit, alleging the plaintiffs brought claims that were “knowingly baseless.”

Sanford Heisler initially sued Morrison & Foerster in April 2018 on behalf of three former associates in California, claiming that the firm routinely holds back mothers and pregnant women, giving them lower pay and fewer promotion opportunities than their male peers.