Jones Day Women Say ‘Black Box,’ Other Sex Bias Claims Supported

A lawsuit accusing the law firm Jones Day of classwide discrimination against female associates contains enough detail about its “black box” pay system and other charges to satisfy federal pleading rules, the six women spearheading the suit told a federal judge.

The class complaint identifies a number of facially neutral employment practices that unfairly affect female attorneys to support their claim of disparate impact bias, the filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said. These include a subjectivity-driven performance evaluation system and a strictly enforced pay secrecy policy, the women said.

Jones Day’s “all-but-formal” “no whining” ...