Kirkland & Ellis Female Associate Accuses Firm of Sex Bias (1)

Kirkland & Ellis LLP and several of its partners discriminated against an intellectual property litigation associate because she is a woman, and harassed and retaliated against her for complaining, according to a federal lawsuit filed in San Francisco Wednesday.

Zoya Kovalenko says the bias occurred during her 10-month tenure with the firm starting in November 2020. But she only performed work for Kirkland & Ellis “for a mere seven months” after factoring in the on-boarding and training process, leave, and the seven weeks the firm froze her out prior to firing her after she repeatedly complained about sex bias, she ...