King & Spalding, a high-profile legal firm, is facing a lawsuit from a former law student, who alleges that the firm’s hiring practices discriminate against white heterosexual applicants for certain summer associate roles.
The plaintiff, Sarah Spitalnick, states that the firm contravened federal law by expressing a preference for candidates from non-white or non-heterosexual backgrounds for a diversity fellowship. Spitalnick decided against applying for a summer position at the firm in 2021, stating in the complaint, “it would have been a futile gesture.”
These legal challenges are not unique to King & Spalding. Following a Supreme Court ruling last year that struck down affirmative action on college campuses, several other major law firms are also facing legal challenges regarding their diversity hiring programs. These firms include Winston & Strawn, Perkins Coie, and Morrison Foerster, which all revised their programs to exclude any mention of race or gender as part of their eligibility criteria after a conservative advocacy group withdrew lawsuits against them.
Spitalnick, who graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2023, filed her complaint in the US District Court for the District of Maryland. She is reportedly seeking a variety of responses, including unspecified compensable and punitive damages, changes to King & Spalding’s diversity-related hiring policies, and a public apology from the firm.
The full case case number is Spitalnick v. King & Spalding, D. Md., No. 24-01367.