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By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
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SDNY COURTHOUSE, Sept 24 –  Kaloma Cardwell filed a racial discrimination case against his employer, the "white shoe" law firm of Davis Polk and Wardwell.

He'd been employed there from September 2014 through August 2018, then alleged that "defendants quarterbacked and permitted a playbook that marginalized, discriminated against and retaliated against Plaintiff, the only Black male associate in the Davis Polk's 2014 associate class." Then there was a delay in discovery.

 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Gregory H. Woods held a proceeding on July 28. Inner City Press covered it.  

On March 22 on very little notice, Judge Woods held another proceeding. Inner City Press covered it. The defendant's lawyer Jeh Johnson was complaining that Kaloma Cardwell had declined to show up for his deposition, despite they said their promises to limit access to the transcript. Cardwell's lawyer said the defense does not have an automatic right to a "fourteen hour deposition."

On June 28, things weremoving to sanctions and fees: "MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER: Fundamentally, the discovery deficiencies at issue in Defendants' motion to compel are of the type that are expected to be resolved without the need for court intervention. Rule 37(a)(5) creates an incentive for parties to work through such disputes, rather than to submit them to a court for resolution. Civil litigators are expected to be aware of the fee shifting nature of the rule; Defendants were not required to specifically request an award of fees. Regardless of how he is being compensated, or his level of experience in this area of practice, it is not unjust in this context to expect Plaintiff's counsel to comply with the rules and to bear the economic consequences of non-compliance. However, the Court cannot evaluate the proper amount of an award without the documents referred to above. Accordingly, the Court requests that Defendants submit the relevant billing records to the Court no later than July 15, 2021. In the event that Defendants wish to provide a substantive reply to Plaintiff's opposition limited to the issue of the reasonableness of their fees, they may do so by the same date. The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate the motion pending at Dkt No. 43. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Gregory H. Woods on 6/28/2021)."

Now on September 24, this: "MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER re: [115] MOTION to Dismiss the Second Amended Complaint. filed by Daniel Brass, Sophia Hudson, John Bick, Brian Wolfe, William Chudd, Thomas Reid, Davis Polk and Wardwell LLP, John Butler, Harold Birnbaum, [165] MOTION to Amend/Correct [147] Complaint,, . filed by Kaloma Cardwell. For the reasons stated above, Defendants' motion to dismiss is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Cardwell's discrimination claims against Birnbaum and Wolfe are dismissed. His disparate impact discrimination claims are also dismissed. But Cardwell's discrimination claims against Brass, his retaliation claims against each of the Additional Defendants predicated on his termination, and his retaliation claims against Birnbaum and Wolfe predicated on their failure to staff him, are all adequately pleaded. Accordingly, Defendants' motion is denied as to those claims. Plaintiff's motion to amend is GRANTED, except to the extent that Plaintiff seeks to add a disparate impact claim. Plaintiff is directed to file his third amended complaint no later than ten days after the date of this opinion."

Also, four grand: "ORDER granting [130] Motion for Attorney Fees. The Court imposes a sanction in the amount of $4,000 on Mr. Jeffries, payable to Defendants. The Court requests that the parties propose a reasonable schedule for the payment of this amount. (Signed by Judge Gregory H. Woods on 9/23/2021)." Watch this site.

Back on November 13, Judge Woods held another conference in the case, one not listed in the Calendar Events section of PACER. Paul Weiss as counsel for Davis Polk had gotten amended complaint(s) filed on November 9 provisionally sealed, claiming that material in and annexed to them are in the protective order.

On December 9, Davis Polk trashed what they call Cardwell's "continued refusal to return Firm material or produce documents he promised the Court would be forthcoming." They also chide him for filing material stamped "Confidential."

On January 20 they itemized $99,565.20 they want in legal fees, with Bruce Birenboim charging $5,791.50 for 3.9 hours and Susanna Buergel $21,384 for 14.4 hours.

And on February 1, Jeh Johnson appeared. Inner City Press live tweeted, here:

 The gloves are off - Davis Polk is asking for sanctions against Cardwell / lawyer David Jeffries for alleging that evaluation of plaintiff was back-dated, says the amended complaint contains "conspiracy theories."

 Davis Polk's lawyer derides Cardwell for claiming that a Davis Polk person asked him for "a black restaurant recommendation in Harlem" - says it was for a restaurant "near the Apollo Theater." Wants Rule 11 sanctions for baseless allegations. "Over."

Cardwell's lawyer: Rule 11 is not the appropriate vehicle to address this issue. Defendants told is the issue could be addressed by amending the complaint and we did that. We got 99,000 pages in January. 40,000 in December.

Judge Woods: Counsel for Plaintiff, you're in the Safe Harbor period. The Advisory Committee notes specify candor in acknowledging a lack of factual support.

Jeh Johnson of Paul Weiss, for David Polk: They have withdrawn the so-called Black Restaurant allegation.

Judge Woods: So I understand the Safe Harbor has expired and the motion can be brought. So we'll have motion practice. 

Counsel for Cardwell: We will withdraw.

Judge Woods: Withdraw from Second Amended Complaint Para 408, 409 and 410 & the 449 last sentence about Ms Hudson asking for a recommendation for a "Black restaurant"?

Counsel for Cardwell: Yes, Judge

 The case is Cardwell v. Davis Polk and Wardwell LLP et al, 19cv10256 (Woods) 

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