Fox Rothschild is currently facing an age discrimination lawsuit filed by Michael Kline, a former partner who claims he was pressured to retire due to his age. The lawsuit, submitted in New Jersey state court, names the firm and its former managing partner, Mark Morris, as defendants. According to the complaint, Kline, who was 73 at the time, was moved from an equity partner position to an income partner role in 2018, which came with a significant pay cut. The alleged motive behind these actions was to enforce an unofficial age restriction despite the firm having eliminated its mandatory retirement age.
The complaint details how Kline’s compensation was reduced multiple times. Initially, his salary was set at $200,000 per year in 2018, a sharp contrast to the firm’s profits per equity partner, which stood at $697,000 that year as reported by Law.com. In 2019, this was further decreased to $150,000 annually, even though Kline also assumed the role of assistant general counsel and continued his duties as vice chair of the firm’s opinions committee.
By 2023, Kline’s contract was not renewed, and he was directed to continue only until June 2023 to train multiple firm partners to take over his responsibilities. Kline’s objection to what he considered a discriminatory move earned him a contract extension until 2024, but it was made clear that no further extensions would be permitted.
With the appointment of a new managing partner, Todd Rodriguez, in April 2023, Kline sought reconsideration of his situation. However, during their conversation, Rodriguez allegedly told Kline to “hang up (his) spurs,” a remark Kline and his legal team argue was discriminatory and dismissive given his nearly three decades of service to the firm.
As of now, Fox Rothschild has not issued any comments regarding the ongoing case.
More information on the lawsuit can be found on Above the Law.