Former Labor & Employment attorney at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, Robert Lofton, has filed a lawsuit claiming racial discrimination and unpaid wages following a series of health complications. Lofton, who is Black, alleges that upon the firm learning of his health challenges, it initiated a stream of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. The claims, filed in Los Angeles’s Superior Court of California, outline charges of retaliation, wrongful termination, and discrimination, suggesting breaches of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act.
The lawsuit refers to the firm’s ex-partners, Jeffrey Ranen and John Barber, who, after launching their own boutique, dissolved the venture following the leak of emails showcasing decade-long racist and misogynistic remarks. Although they are not defendants in the lawsuit, the case argues that they “unlawfully discriminated against Mr. Lofton on the grounds of his race—subjecting Mr. Lofton to harmful employment actions from docked, delayed, withheld, and reduced pay to threats of taking away Mr. Lofton’s health insurance, among others.”
Lewis Brisbois maintains a strong record of action to prevent behavior incongruous with its values. The firm is presently evaluating the lawsuit and plans to respond in due course. Lofton was a partner at the company’s Los Angeles place of duty, having transferred from Littler Mendelson, where he had worked as special counsel for over four years. Full details on this matter are available.