Ex-Howrey Associate Files $30M Discrimination Suit Against the Firm

Kamisha Menns, a former associate at Howrey’s office in Brussels, filed a $30 million lawsuit against Howrey in Washington D.C. Superior Court last week, alleging that the firm violated the D.C. Human Rights Act by retaliating against her, creating a hostile work environment, and inflicting both intentional and negligent emotional distress.

Menns, a black woman from Jamaica, says that she was excluded from meetings, segregated from other lawyers, and subjected to heightened scrutiny because of her race and national origin. According to the complaint, when Menns spoke with managing partner Trevor Soames about the hostility she had experienced, he said that office staff may be treating her in a hostile manner due to her race because they were primarily Flemish, and the Flemish “can be racist.” Menns was the first and only black associate in the Brussels office.

Menns was ultimately fired, after which, claims Menns, the firm made “spurious accusations of document retention and excess expenditure,” filing both a bar complaint and arbitration claim against her. The firm has offered no comment on the case, except to note that Howrey was ranked 13th among the nation’s top 200 law firms on Minority Law Journal’s 2009 Diversity Scorecard.