Sullivan & Cromwell has hit back at the associate who sued the law firm last month for sexual orientation discrimination, filing its own lawsuit accusing former fourth-year Aaron B. Charney of stealing firm documents and violating client confidences.
In a complaint filed last week in Manhattan Supreme Court, the law firm said Charney had used his suit "as the centerpiece of a malicious public relations campaign, the evident purpose of which has been to embarrass and denigrate S&C, and to name S&C's clients unnecessarily as part of his campaign."
The firm said Charney had revealed client confidences in both the pro se complaint he filed Jan. 16 and in interviews about the case with various news media. It also accused him of stealing internal documents on associate morale from an adjacent office and leaking them to The Wall Street Journal.
Sullivan & Cromwell said Charney, whom it terminated last Thursday, had violated New York ethical rules as well as firm policies he had agreed to as an employee. The firm is seeking an order enjoining Charney from further disclosures of confidential information as well as directing him to return any confidential documents in his possession. It also requested compensatory and punitive damages.