Seeking Equal Pay for Women, Sedgwick Partner Sues Her Firm | Law.com
Page 1 of 4
(HTTP://
(http://www.law.com)
Share :
By Roy Strom
Published: Jul 27, 2016
Seeking Equal Pay for Women, Sedgwick Partner
Sues Her Firm
TRENDING NOW
15 Best Places to Live and Work
in Big(gish) Law
(/sites/almstaff/2016/08/15/15best-places-to-live-and-work-inbiggish-law/)
Cravath Lawyer Spotlighted in
Book, Movie with Eddie
Redmayne
(/sites/almstaff/2016/08/15/cra
lawyer-spotlighted-in-bookmovie-with-eddie-redmayne/)
More Than 80 Percent of
Partners in U.K. Expect to See
Law Firm Job Cuts Because of
Brexit
(/sites/almstaff/2016/08/15/mo
than-80-percent-of-partners-in-uk-expect-to-see-law-firm-jobcuts-because-of-brexit/)
(http://images.law.com/contrib/content/uploads/sites/292/2016/07/Traci-Ribeiro-Article201607271649.jpg)
Traci Ribeiro of Sedgwick.
A current nonequity partner at Sedgwick has accused the firm of systemic discrimination against
women in a class action suit filed Tuesday in a California state court. The suit claims that a “maledominated culture” keeps women from earning equal pay and equal partnership status at Sedgwick.
Traci Ribeiro, an insurance expert who joined Sedgwick’s Chicago office
(http://www.sedgwicklaw.com/sedgwick-chicago-welcomes-traci-ribeiro-01-14-2011/) in 2011, said
that she has been denied a promotion to equity partner since 2012, despite being the third-highest
revenue generator at the roughly 300-lawyer Am Law 200 firm.
Hiring Partners Share War
Stories from On-Campus
Interviews
(/sites/almstaff/2016/08/09/hiri
partners-share-war-stories-fromon-campus-interviews/)
‘Made in the USA’? Maybe Not,
According to the FTC
(/sites/almstaff/2016/08/12/ma
in-the-usa-maybe-not-accordingto-the-ftc/)
Ribeiro and other women at the firm “cannot crack the glass ceiling at Sedgwick,” according to her
complaint, which documents alleged sexist comments made by partners about Ribeiro. The suit, filed
in Sedgwick’s hometown of San Francisco, also states that some female associates earned up to
$50,000 less than their male counterparts. The complaint seeks to certify a class of women
employees at the firm in their effort to obtain back pay for lower wages and damages.
“My goal in filing the suit and having my day in court is to ensure equal pay for everyone at Sedgwick,”
said Ribeiro, who continues to represent insurance companies in coverage disputes out of the firm’s
Chicago office. “I’m hoping that other firms will look at what they’re paying the men, look at what
they’re paying the women and pay them equally.”
Sedgwick chair Michael Healy said in a statement that the firm is disappointed that Ribeiro filed the
http://www.law.com/sites/almstaff/2016/07/27/seeking-equal-pay-for-women-sedgwick-partner-sues-her-fi... 8/16/2016
Seeking Equal Pay for Women, Sedgwick Partner Sues Her Firm | Law.com
suit and a previous Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint against the firm.
“We are confident there has been absolutely no discrimination or retaliation in the partner
compensation process or otherwise, and we will defend the firm against these baseless allegations,”
said Healy, who also heads Sedgwick’s life sciences group and assumed leadership of the firm
(http://www.therecorder.com/home/id=1202717052735/Sedwick-Taps-New-Chair) in 2015.
Healy said that Ribeiro is paid in the top 10 percent of all partners at Sedgwick, which had $183
million in gross revenue last year, according to the most recent Am Law 200 rankings
(http://www.americanlawyer.com/id=1202758254662). Ribeiro declined to provide her salary in the
complaint because it may violate the firm’s policy, said one of her attorneys, J. Bryan Wood of The
Wood Law Office in Chicago. Ribeiro is also represented by Sharon Vinick of Oakland, Californiabased Levy Vinick Burrell Hyams, an all-women employment litigation boutique.
Page 2 of 4
MOST POPULAR
FROM THE ALM NETWORK
15 Best Places to Live and Work
in Big(gish) Law
(/sites/almstaff/2016/08/15/15best-places-to-live-and-work-inbiggish-law/)
Cravath Lawyer Spotlighted in
Book, Movie with Eddie
Redmayne
(/sites/almstaff/2016/08/15/cra
lawyer-spotlighted-in-bookmovie-with-eddie-redmayne/)
Tips on How to Get Out of Jury
Duty
(/sites/almstaff/2016/08/12/tips
on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/)
Hiring Partners Share War
Stories from On-Campus
Interviews
(/sites/almstaff/2016/08/09/hiri
partners-share-war-stories-fromon-campus-interviews/)
(http://images.law.com/contrib/content/uploads/sites/292/2016/07/Vinick-Wood-Article201607271701.jpg)
Sharon Vinick, left, and J. Bryan Wood, right.
Ribeiro’s suit was filed Tuesday in San Francisco County Superior Court in response to an attempt the
firm made in April to move the dispute into arbitration, according to the complaint. Ribeiro filed her
EEOC complaint in January. It is ongoing, according to her civil complaint, and was investigated for
the firm by lawyers at Seyfarth Shaw, an Am Law 100 firm known for its work in the labor and
employment space.
Ribeiro became a nonequity partner at Sedgwick in September 2012 and soon began advocating for
compensation raises for women associates in her department.
One female associate was being paid $50,000 less than a male counterpart despite being more
productive and profitable, according to Ribeiro’s complaint. Another was underpaid by $40,000.
Ribeiro said that those associates eventually earned raises and were paid similarly to their male
counterparts.
Ribeiro has been less successful advocating on her own behalf. Her complaint said that she has been
denied equity status despite repeated requests and a top-three book of business at the firm. And last
year, a man was made equity partner at Sedgwick despite bringing in only 10 percent of the revenue
that Ribeiro did, according to her complaint.
FEATURED FIRMS
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
60 State St
Boston, MA 02109
617-338-4321
www.marksalomone.com
Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
235 Peachtree St NE #400
Atlanta, GA 30303
800-898-4297
www.garymartinhays.com
The Law Firm Of Jonathan C. Reiter
350 5th Ave
New York, NY 10118
212-736-0979
www.jcreiterlaw.com
Ribeiro said that she wrestled with bringing the suit for the past four years.
“All I want to do is practice law,” she said. “And every year I increase my revenue. And every year I
thought that would be enough for the men to treat me equally and pay me equally.”
Instead, her complaint claims, her equal-pay stance has been met with retaliation.
At a November 2012 equity partners meeting shortly after she raised an issue over associate pay, the
complaint states that Bruce Celebrezze, a fellow insurance partner at Sedgwick in San Francisco, told
his colleagues that Ribeiro “needed to learn how to behave,” and suggested she receive a pay cut.
http://www.law.com/sites/almstaff/2016/07/27/seeking-equal-pay-for-women-sedgwick-partner-sues-her-fi... 8/16/2016
Seeking Equal Pay for Women, Sedgwick Partner Sues Her Firm | Law.com
Page 3 of 4
Celebrezze did not return an email request for comment.
In a 2013 meeting about her role at Sedgwick, a previous firm leader told Ribeiro, “Don’t worry, we’re
not going to bring you out to the woodshed,” according to her complaint.
“A comment like this is characteristic of the paternalistic, dismissive and gender-biased way Ribeiro
has been treated by Sedgwick and would not have been said to a male attorney,” wrote lawyers for
the Sedgwick partner in her complaint against the firm. “Discussion of a spanking has no place in a
conversation about a female’s professional prospects.”
In a description of Sedgwick that mirrors the broader legal profession, Ribeiro’s complaint states that
women constitute less than 20 percent of the firm’s equity partnership despite representing roughly
half of its associates.
The first woman to sit on Sedgwick’s executive committee earned that spot only after Ribeiro’s EEOC
complaint, states her complaint. That committee makes salary and promotion recommendations for
nonequity partners at the firm.
Ribeiro’s complaint claims that a lack of policies on promotion requirements allows gender biases to
play an outsize role in decision-making. “Sedgwick’s male-dominated culture creates an environment
where gender stereotypes flourish,” claim Ribeiro’s lawyers.
The firm’s leader, Healy, rebuked that notion in his statement.
“Sedgwick takes a fair, open and consensus-driven approach to partner compensation and other
partnership issues, and we do not engage in or tolerate discriminatory or retaliatory conduct of any
kind,” he said. “In fact, Sedgwick is proud to be widely recognized as a leader in initiating and
promoting diversity in all aspects of the firm and in our communities.”
Ribeiro said that continuing to work at Sedgwick is “certainly not the easiest situation from day to
day.” But she has persevered.
“I like to practice law, and so I go in and continue to do my job,” she said. “The suit was filed yesterday,
and as of now the retaliation has only been to not promote me to equity because I complained about
not being paid equally.”
Additional reporting by Ben Hancock.
MORE STORIES
15 Best Places to Live and Work in Big(gish)
Law (/sites/almstaff/2016/08/15/15-bestplaces-to-live-and-work-in-biggish-law/)
Cravath Lawyer Spotlighted in Book, Movie
with Eddie Redmayne
(/sites/almstaff/2016/08/15/cravath-lawyerspotlighted-in-book-movie-with-eddieredmayne/)
Tips on How to Get Out of Jury Duty
(/sites/almstaff/2016/08/12/tips-on-how-toget-out-of-jury-duty/)
Hiring Partners Share War Stories from OnCampus Interviews
(/sites/almstaff/2016/08/09/hiring-partnersshare-war-stories-from-on-campusinterviews/)
(https://www.facebook.com/Lawcom(https://twitter.com/lawdotcom)
(http://www.linkedin.com/groups/
(https://plus.google.com/10
( http://feeds.feedblit
223745527650969/
Legal- )
com-
Sections
Tools
Law.com
Law.com Home
(http://www.law.com)
Practice Areas
(http://www.law.com/practiceareas)
The Legal Industry
(http://www.law.com/the-legalindustry)
Search
(http://www.law.com/search)
Legal Dictionary
(http://dictionary.law.com)
Mobile App
(http://at.law.com/download)
Site Map
(http://www.law.com/sitemap)
About
(http://www.law.com/about)
ALM Reprints
(http://www.alm.law.com/jsp/repr
id=reprintscustomerservice)
Contact Us
(http://www.law.com/contactus)
http://www.law.com/sites/almstaff/2016/07/27/seeking-equal-pay-for-women-sedgwick-partner-sues-her-fi... 8/16/2016
Seeking Equal Pay for Women, Sedgwick Partner Sues Her Firm | Law.com
Insights
(http://www.law.com/insights/rankings)
Resources
(http://www.law.com/resources)
Page 4 of 4
Privacy Policy
(http://www.alm.com/privacypolicy)
ALM License Agreement
(http://www.alm.com/about/terms
use)
ALM Network of Legal Publications, Events, Research, and Intelligence Tools
+ LIST SITES
© 2016 ALM Media Properties, LLC. All Right Reseved.
http://www.law.com/sites/almstaff/2016/07/27/seeking-equal-pay-for-women-sedgwick-partner-sues-her-fi... 8/16/2016