The U.S. Supreme Court has denied Sidley Austin’s petition for writ of certiorari in the age discrimination suit being brought against the firm by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The firm, which is facing allegations it demoted 31 partners in 1999 on the basis of age, had argued for the suit’s dismissal on the grounds the EEOC had no authority to seek monetary damages. But that motion was denied by both the Chicago district court hearing the case and the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based on the Supreme Court’s 2002 ruling in EEOC v. Waffle House, 534 US 279, which said the agency had a statutory right to seek damages separate from any individual’s right.
