A federal judge has trimmed the list of affirmative defenses put forth by Kelley Drye & Warren in a lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission targeting the firm’s now-discontinued mandatory retirement policy. Southern District Judge Laura Taylor Swaine yesterday granted the EEOC’s motion to strike five of the firm’s affirmative defenses, but denied the motion with respect to four other defenses. The firm included 19 affirmative defenses in its answer to the EEOC’s action.
The suit was prompted by an administrative complaint filed by Eugene T. D’Ablemont, a former equity partner who was compelled to give up his equity interest when he turned 70 in 1991 under the firm’s former policy (NYLJ, April 9, 2010). Partners who gave up their equity interest could keep working, but were paid less, Mr. D’Ablemont alleged. He said the policy violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Mr. D’Ablemont still works at Kelley Drye. The firm ended the policy in April 2010, but the EEOC is seeking to recover damages for partners affected under the policy when it was active.
