US watchdog probes ageism claim against Sidley Austin

Partner demotion: case may revolutionise discrimination law

Sidley Austin Brown & Wood - the sixth largest law firm in the US - is under investigation by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for demoting partners in a case that could revolutionise the way US law firms are treated under discrimination legislation.In September 1999, the Chicago office of Sidley & Austin (as it then was) demoted 32 partners to lesser 'counsel' or 'of counsel' positions.More than half were in their late 50s and early 60s, and the EEOC was contacted by a 'confidential government informer' from Sidley Austin complaining of age discrimination.

The EEOC subsequently launched an investigation.Only employees are protected by the US discrimination regulations, and an argument is now brewing over whether US partners can be considered employees.Sidley Austin is refusing to comply with detailed requests for information about the partnership, including the partners' ages, compensation, reasons for leaving the firm, and whether changes in status, such as retirement, were voluntary or forced.

Earlier this month, a US district court judge ordered Sidley Austin to produce the requested material, but Paul Grossman of Los Angeles-based Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker, who is representing Sidley Austin, said the firm will appeal.He said: 'There's nothing all that unusual about the structure of Sidley & Austin, so the results will be relevant to all law firms that have centralised management.'Jane Mann, a partner at City law firm Fox Williams and chairwoman of the Employment Lawyers Association, said that though there is currently no age discrimination law in the UK, if it is introduced it will probably cover both employees and employers.Jeremy Fleming