A former DEI vice president at St. Louis-founded firm Armstrong Teasdale is suing the firm, alleging race and gender-based discrimination.
Sonji Young, in a petition filed last week in the Circuit Court of St. Louis, Missouri, asserts that the firm demonstrated a pattern of discriminatory behavior. Young attributed some of these actions to the then managing partner Patrick Rasche. In her complaint, Young claims firm leadership withheld training, access to facilities, and investment in DEI programming, fostering a hostile work environment.
The complaint further mentions that the hostile environment also extended to the firm’s associates. According to Young, two Black female associates indicated that White male partners assigned more work to White male lawyers, neglecting Black women in the process. In 2021, 75 out of 97 partners at Armstrong Teasdale were White men.
Young’s lawsuit seeks reinstatement to her former position, from which she was terminated early last year, as well as various damages. The firm, which is among the American Lawyer’s top 200 in the country and comprises more than 360 lawyers, recently announced plans to sever ties with its UK operation and close offices in Boston and Salt Lake City.
Efforts to obtain comments from Young’s representatives and Armstrong Teasdale were not immediately successful. The case is filed under S.R. Young v Armstrong Teasdale, in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, State of Missouri, No. 2422-CC03025.
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