A proposed gender discrimination class action filed against Greenberg Traurig late last year is off to a slow start, with lawyers for the two parties arguing over not just whether the case belongs in arbitration, but also which of two federal district court judges should decide that question.
Plaintiff Francine Friedman Griesing, a shareholder in Greenberg’s Philadelphia office from 2007 to 2010, filed her suit in the Southern District of New York on Dec. 4, claiming that the firm pays its female attorneys less than their male counterparts and that she was forced out after complaining about the allegedly unfair compensation practices. Greenberg, meanwhile, filed a petition in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania that same day seeking to compel arbitration, which the firm argues is required based on its partnership agreement.
