DLA Piper Sued for Firing Associate for Maternity Leave Request

A former DLA Piper intellectual property senior associate is suing the law firm for allegedly discriminating against her by terminating her contract six days after she submitted a maternity leave request.

Anisha Mehta earned three pay raises, a six-figure bonus, and didn’t receive negative feedback within the year before the firm fired her in October 2022 “for her alleged poor performance,” she alleged in a complaint filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

At the time Mehta was fired, the firm was getting pressure from clients over billing rates, but told her she wasn’t fired because of her maternity leave, her suit alleged.

“Caring only about its bottom line, DLA was unwilling to incur the costs of paying an experienced associate while on her maternity leave because the Firm would not reap the benefit of her billable hours,” according to the complaint.

Mehta had filed a similar complaint with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission earlier this year.

“We look forward to holding DLA Piper accountable for its blatant gender discrimination as alleged on behalf of our client whose stellar legal career and advancement has been stymied by the mega-firm’s allegiance to profits over gender parity,” Mehta’s attorney, Jeanne Christensen of Wigdor LLP, said in a statement Tuesday.

The suit accuses the firm of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the New York City and New York state human rights laws.

Mehta is seeking a judgment against the firm, as well as unspecified economic, compensatory, punitive, and liquidated damages.

DLA Piper didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

The case is Mehta v. DLA Piper LLP, S.D.N.Y., No. 1:23-cv-04757, complaint filed 6/6/23.