Covington and Burling Discrimination Suit Dismissed

Practice tip #1: Show up! A high profile racial discrimination case came to an abrupt end yesterday when the Plaintiff, Yolanda Young, and her attorney failed to show up for the first status conference. Judge Walton of the D.C. District Court dismissed the case against Covington and Burling. The Blog of LegalTimes (The BLT) reports that Judge Walton also cited the Plaintiff's,

"failure to abide by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules by not responding to motions and other deadlines, and conducting herself in a manner that has impeded the defendants’ ability to defend against this action.”

Yolanda Young sued Covington and Burling, a global powerhouse law firm, alleging the firm discriminated against its black attorneys. In March 2008, Ms. Young wrote a scathing review of Covington's staff attorney program in a Huffington Post article, Law Firm Segregation Reminiscent of Jim Crow.

Judge Walton dismissed the case without prejudice. This means Ms. Young may have an opportunity to re-file her case in the future. In other words, we may not have heard the last of this one.

UPDATE (7/27/2009): Hate to say "I told you so" but when I said "we may not have heard the last of this one"... well, guess who's back? The Blog of Legal Times reports that Young's Suit Against Covington is Back on Track.