Liddle & Robinson Partner Sex Bias Suit Sent Back to State Court

A female former partner of Liddle & Robinson LLP alleging sex discrimination and withheld compensation can pursue her case in New York state court.

Andrea Paparella’s September 2018 lawsuit wasn’t preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act simply because it referenced the firm’s profit-sharing plan, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York said. Her claims “substantially focus on alleged sex discrimination” and “are largely unrelated to—and independent from—any employee profit sharing plan,” the court said. The firm therefore wrongly removed the suit to federal court.

The March 3 ruling illustrates that employers must meet both ...