Judge Tosses Associate’s Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Against WilmerHale Law Firm

A fired associate at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr won’t be able to pursue his October 2023 lawsuit against the law firm and a former counsel who worked there.

Judge David B. Cohen of the trial-level New York Supreme Court in New York County, New York, tossed the suit by former associate Jean E. Dassie, who alleged that he was defamed in two evaluations and discriminated against because of his Cameroonian origin. Reuters and Law360 have coverage.

Tossing the defamation claims, Cohen said Dassie couldn’t sue because the evaluation comments were protected by a privilege applying to statements made in employment for a supervisory purpose. Cohen also said the only harm that Dassie alleged was the loss of his job, which was at-will and could not be the basis for a tort claim.

Read more at ABA Journal