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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is OP again.  I appreciate the thoughtful responses.  Assume a white guy doesn't get a plum assignment on, say, a big WalMart case that he is well suited for because it is staffed to satisfy a client's demand for diversity, and the  white guy's bonus is lower, or he doesn't make partner as a result.  He sues for race or sex discrimination.  What's the law firm's defense?  I don't believe diversity for diversity's sake has been recognized as a Title VII defense.  I'm sure the law firm can come up with other reasons for the decision (as if often the case in race or sex discrimination cases whe there is more than one qualified person for a job), but if the real reason was to satisfy the client's preference,  what is the firm's legal defense?[/quote]

There were probably 20 lawyers who were capable of working on that case who didn't get chosen.  And there were probably a bunch of white men on the case.  So he has to show that he was discriminated against because of his sex, when a bunch of white guys are on the case.  Can't prove that they are discriminating against white men, only that they didn't pick this one guy.  And he's almost certainly not the most qualified, or he would have been on the case, and some slightly less qualified person would have been booted off.  So, they just point to all the other people who were chosen, who were also well-suited to work on the case, and say they just can't put everyone on every case.  He'd probably also have to show that he didn't get any good assignments, not just one particular assignment that he wanted, and that that's the reason he didn't get a bonus.  And he doesn't make partner because of one case?  Good luck proving that.

Or they do what has been done to non-white men for decades and say "he wasn't a good fit," or something vague.  [/quote]

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