A former law student is suing King & Spalding, alleging the firm discriminates against White heterosexual candidates for certain summer associate positions.
The firm violated federal law by stating that it preferred non-White or non-heterosexual candidates for a diversity fellowship, Sarah Spitalnick said in a complaint filed Thursday.
King & Spalding is the latest major law firm to face legal challenges to diversity hiring programs, following a Supreme Court ruling striking down affirmative action on college campuses last year. A conservative advocacy group withdrew suits against Winston & Strawn, Perkins Coie, and Morrison Foerster after they removed mentions of race or gender in their programs’ eligibility criteria.
The firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Spitalnick claimed she decided against applying for a summer position at King & Spalding in February 2021 because it “would have been a futile gesture.” A job listing stated that candidates “must have an ethnically or culturally diverse background or be a member of the LGBT community,” she said.
The former University of Baltimore School of Law student filed the complaint in the US District Court for the District of Maryland.
Spitalnick is seeking an unspecified amount in compensable and punitive damages. She’s also asking that the firm change its diversity-related hiring policies, and issue her a public apology.
Spitalnick’s complaint quotes a US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determination letter dated Feb. 13 that backs her claims. The EEOC letter, according to Spitalnick, found “reasonable cause” to believe that she “was discriminated against because of her race and sexual orientation when she was deterred from applying for the summer associate position.”
Spitalnick graduated from law school in 2023, according to her Facebook page, which says she’s currently clerking for a Baltimore law firm.
The case is Spitalnick v. King & Spalding, D. Md., No. 24-01367, complaint filed 5/9/24.
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