The legal battle between Yolanda Young and her former law firm, Covington & Burling, came to an abrupt halt today, when a federal judge dismissed the case after Young and her lawyer failed to show up in court.
Judge Reggie Walton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia threw out the discrimination suit for lack of prosecution after Young and her lawyer, Latif Doman of Doman Davis, turned up missing this morning at the case’s first status conference.
In his official order this afternoon, the judge explained his decision by citing a long list of Young’s missteps, including “her failure to abide by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules by not responding to motions and other deadlines, and conducting herself in a manner that has impeded the defendants’ ability to defend against this action.”
Young said she was not ready to comment on today’s developments. The former Covington staff attorney filed suit against her one-time employer in February, alleging that the firm discriminated against its black lawyers. She also alleged that she was the target of racially insensitive remarks and suffered retaliation when she complained.
Before filing her suit, she wrote about her time at Covington in an essay on the Huffington Post titled “Law Firm Segregation Reminiscent of Jim Crow.”
Covington denied all of Young’s allegations, and last month Walton dismissed Young’s claims against two of the firm’s lawyers. Earlier this month the judge warned her that failing to make court dates could lead to the case being dismissed.
“I’m not going to pretend I expected it,” said Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld partner Michele Roberts, who led Covington’s defense team, of today’s no-show. “But in retrospect, frankly, as the judge pointed out in the order, this case was not being too vigorously prosecuted.”
So is this the end of the Yolanda Young controversy? Possibly not. Walton dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning there’s still a chance for her to re-file.
African Americans who work for major law firms have no defense when filing legitimate claims of employment discrimination and retaliation in the court. I know I have a case against a D.C. law firm who fired me during an EEOC mediation and then offered me a severance package to sign a Release Form not to pursue my case. Alone without an attorney rejected the offer and filed a complaint in the D.C. Superior Court. Blacks working in D.C. law firms are catching Hell. Where was Eric Holder who was once a partner at Covington & Burlington?
Posted by: B. Brown | June 01, 2009 at 01:20 PM
This case was weak from the beginning. If she felt that she was being discriminated against, then she should have moved to another firm. She had a choice to either stay or move to another firm. Instead, she stayed and encountered discrmination. I am elated that the Judge has dismissed this case. I feel it was a waste of the court's time. Perhaps, all AM 200 firms will learn of her name and avoid hiring her.
Posted by: Steve Candelario | June 01, 2009 at 12:21 PM