Firm Secures Defense Verdict in SDNY Employment Discrimination Case

On November 15, 2010, a jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York returned a complete defense verdict in favor of Firm client Columbia University with respect to allegations of age and national origin discrimination and retaliation made by a former Columbia employee. Charlie Updike led a trial team that included partner Beth Kaufman and in-house counsel from the University. The case had been pending for 18 years in the State Division of Human Rights, where the plaintiff’s administrative complaint ultimately was dismissed, and in the SDNY. The favorable verdict closes a chapter in the longest running litigation in the Firm’s history.