Law firm settles gender discrimination suit

A prominent Boston law firm has settled a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by a former attorney at the firm that at one point had reached Massachusetts’ top state court.

Terms of the settlement agreement between Mintz, Levin, Ferris, Cohn, Glovsky & Popeo P.C. and Kamee Verdrager, which was announced Monday, were not revealed.

Ms. Verdrager who began working for the firm in June 2004, was demoted in February 2007 and terminated in November 2008, according to court papers.

Ms. Verdrager, who claimed an attorney in the firm had made inappropriate sexually charged comments to her, filed suit in Massachusetts Superior Court in 2009, charging gender discrimination and retaliation. 

In May 2016, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in Boston overturned a ruling by the lower court and reinstated her case.

“Kamee and the firm both are dedicated to making the work environment as comfortable, supportive and gender equal as possible,” Mintz Levin managing member Bob Bodian said in a statement. “We are happy to put our differences behind us so that we can work together for the greater good.”

Ms. Verdrager said in the same statement, “It is clear to me that the firm has learned and grown, which is reflected in both the continued progress it has made in its diversity efforts and the collaborative resolution to this matter.”