Pipeline internship program used by prestigious law firms discriminates based on race, group contends

Debra Cassens Weiss at ABA Journal writes:

A law firm fellowship program for incoming law students is “the largest racially discriminatory hiring pipeline program in the legal field," according to a charge of discrimination filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by a legal advocacy group.

The legal advocacy group, Americans for Equal Opportunity, is asking the EEOC to investigate Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, a nonprofit organization, and 44 of the nation’s largest firms that provide jobs to the incoming law students by partnering with the pipeline nonprofit, according to a May 12 press release and stories by Bloomberg Law and Law360.

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“Upon information and belief,” the complaint said, “sponsor firms seek to fulfill racial quotas by prioritizing the hiring of candidates from preferred races or ethnicities. To escape legal liability, sponsor firms describe their attempts to fulfill quotas as merely implementing diversity ‘targets.’ But in reality these diversity ‘targets’ are actually quotas, and sponsor firms are engaging in illegal discrimination through programs like SEO to fulfill them.”

Even though Sponsors for Educational Opportunity said its fellowships are open to all applicants, “SEO has done nothing to change applicants’ understanding that its fellowship is truly intended for Black, Hispanic and Native American students,” the complaint said.

Read more at ABA Journal.