Jones Day is again defending its long-running practice of keeping all compensation decisions confidential, doubling down on its pursuit of sanctions against the Sanford Heisler Sharp attorneys who are litigating a $200 million gender discrimination lawsuit against the firm.

In a new filing Jan. 24 in Washington, D.C., federal court, the firm asserted that the plaintiffs had ample opportunities to identify facts that disprove their "inferences" that it systematically underpays women, and it said its policy of concealing details of individual compensation predates the arrival of its first female Jones Day attorney in the early 1960s.

"When compensation is individualized and merit-based, confidentiality helps to promote collegiality by avoiding jealousy, bitterness, and anger (on the part of the lower-paid) and arrogance, superiority, and ego (on the part of the higher-paid)," the firm wrote. "It also prevents embarrassment both for those who make less than their peers and those who make more."