Quinn Emanuel IT Director Sues Alleging Anti-Spanish Job Bias

A Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP regional information technology director faced harassment and discrimination based on his Spanish ancestry, including being called a “spic,” and was demoted and otherwise retaliated against for complaining, a federal lawsuit filed in Manhattan alleges.

Nicholas Mondelo says the unending abuse at the law firm eventually caused him to experience a breakdown in May 2019 that resulted in his involuntarily commitment for three days in the Jersey City Medical Center.

Quinn Emanuel fired him less than 10 days later during a conference call with several partners in the firm’s New York office, Mondelo says.

He was subsequently hospitalized in January 2020 after trying to kill himself, according to the suit filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The firm disputes the suit’s allegations.

“We are disappointed that Mr. Mondelo has chosen to take this action. His claims are without merit,” Quinn Emanuel told Bloomberg Law Wednesday in an email.

Mondelo was hired by the firm as its regional IT director for U.S. East Coast and Midwest in April 2015, a role he filled until March 2018, according to the suit. That’s when he was demoted without notice, with his duties being restricted to Quinn Emanuel’s New York office, the suit says.

He had enjoyed a successful 25-year career with other international law firms prior to being hired by Quinn Emanuel, Mondelo says.

But Mondelo was one of the only Hispanic employees in Quinn Emanuel’s IT department and the only employee of Spanish ancestry and national origin, the suit says.

The firm’s chief information officer, David Eskanos, allegedly often cursed at and insulted Mondelo. That included calling him a “spic” in September 2015 after Mondelo told Eskanos he would be traveling to Spain to visit family, according to the suit.

“Upon information and belief,” the firm received numerous other complaints of “racist and sexist behavior” by Eskanos, Mondelo says.

But Quinn Emanuel did nothing when he complained other than assign the managing partners of its offices in New York and Los Angeles, where Eskanos was based, to act as a “buffer” between him and his abuser, Mondelo says.

The harassment nevertheless continued and included Eskanos requiring Mondelo, but not other regional IT directors, to get approval before traveling to other Quinn Emanuel offices.

Eskanos also forced him to continue rolling out Windows 10 in the firm’s New York office despite testing that showed the attempted roll-out was “a disaster,” according to the suit.

Former New York managing partner Peter Calamari and Eskanos are also named as defendants.

Causes of Action: 42 U.S.C. §1981; the New York State Human Rights Law; and the New York City Human Rights Law.

Relief: Declaration that firm violated Section 1981 and New York state and city laws and an order enjoining further violations; lost wages, compensation for humiliation and emotional distress, and related punitive and other damages; attorneys’ fees and costs.

Attorneys: Joseph & Kirschenbaum LLP represents Mondelo.

The case is Mondelo v. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, S.D.N.Y., No. 1:21-cv-02512, complaint filed 3/23/21.