Once again folks, we have the U.S. Department of Justice chiming in on Skadden Arps and our Chancery Court. And, it ain’t pretty! The mess Bouchard and Pincus made while emptying TransPerfect’s corporate coffers, in my opinion, to benefit themselves and it keeps getting worse. Please remember who has been telling you that the many awful black-eyes will keep coming and coming for our state, and for our Chancery Court, under the inauspicious leadership of Andre Bouchard.
The latest headline: The DOJ just accused TransPerfect of discriminating against dual citizens and non-U.S. citizens when helping Clifford Chance’s staff organize a project in 2017.
NEWSFLASH folks: TransPerfect Management wasn’t in charge in 2017, our Delaware Chancery Court was. And it is plain-as day to me that Skadden was so busy fleecing and mismanaging the company as I see it with its illegal 3-year $1,475-per-hour occupation of the company that apparently it supervised conduct that the DOJ believes is absolutely illegal.
THIS IS OUTRIGHT CRAZY!! WHEN WILL WE STAND UP TO THIS PERCEIVED CORRUPTION IN THE DELAWARE CHANCERY? WHEN, I ASK?!
For more on how Chancellor Bouchard, Custodian Robert Pincus, and repeat DOJ offender — Skadden Arps — used the Chancery Court’s power to direct what the DOJ calls a “pattern of discriminatory and illegal behavior” — Please read the story below.
Folks, It’s only going to get worse and worse for the Chancery Court, who still will not, despite repeated requests, unseal the documents in the case.
MORE THAN EVER, I would love to hear your thoughts on this situation, and any comments on how honest on-lookers can bring these Delaware elites to justice.
Originally published by Law360:
By Dani Kass
Law360 (May 9, 2019, 11:36 PM EDT) — The U.S. Department of Justice has accused TransPerfect of discriminating against dual citizens and non-U.S. citizens when helping Clifford Chance staff up a project in 2017.
The DOJ’s complaint, filed Wednesday in the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer, claims the staffing company violated the Immigration and Nationality Act when it honored the firm’s request to only recruit and hire people who were citizens of the U.S. exclusively. Clifford Chance LLP ended the DOJ’s probe into it in August by paying a $132,000 penalty, without admitting liability.
TransPerfect’s attorney, Martin P. Russo of Kruzhkov Russo PLLC, told Law360 that the alleged misconduct took place while the company was under a court-ordered custodianship. As part of a high-profile fight between TransPerfect’s founders, Philip Shawe and Elizabeth Elting, for control of the company, a Delaware Chancery Court in 2015 placed Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP’s Robert B. Pincus as custodian, namely to sell the business. Shawe ended up buying Elting out in a deal the court approved in February 2018, effectively ending Pincus’ custodianship.
The DOJ says the firm — which it does not identify in the complaint — used TransPerfect to staff up on attorneys for a temporary document review project. For several months in 2017, TransPerfect only recruited and hired U.S. citizens, and for most of the time only hired citizens who didn’t hold a second passport, the government claims.
The INA bars employers from intentionally discriminating against U.S. citizens or nationals, lawful permanent residents, asylees, and refugees during the hiring process, unless it falls under a legal carve out, the DOJ said.
“TransPerfect maintains that it did not violate the statutes alleged or engage in any conduct that was outside the bounds of the law,” Russo said.
In August, the DOJ said the U.S. arm of Clifford Chance violated anti-discrimination provisions of the INA by terminating three employees and refusing to consider eligible job candidates for 36 document-review roles because of their citizenship status from March to July 2017.
Clifford Chance had told investigators that it placed a citizenship-based staffing restriction on a specific document-review project because it believed it was required by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR, which in certain circumstances requires only a “U.S. person” to review highly sensitive materials.
But the DOJ said the firm misunderstood its obligations under the ITAR and that the regulations did not excuse discrimination on the basis of immigration status or nationality.
The new suit is against Chancery Staffing Solutions LLC, which is the successor to TransPerfect Staffing Solutions LLC. The company does business now as TransPerfect Staffing Solutions and TransPerfect Legal Solutions, the DOJ said. The government is hoping to get civil penalties, back pay on behalf of the workers who faced alleged discrimination, and other relief to “correct and prevent discrimination.”
“Staffing agencies must be diligent in satisfying their obligation under the INA to avoid citizenship status discrimination against U.S. citizens and protected non-citizens, even when that discrimination is requested by a client,” Eric Dreiband of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “The Department of Justice is committed to challenging such unlawful and discriminatory hiring practices.”
Skadden and Clifford Chance didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment late Thursday.
The government is represented by Gloria Yi, Julia Heming Segal and Sejal Jhaveri of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
TransPerfect is represented by Martin P. Russo of Kruzhkov Russo PLLC.
The case is U.S. v. Chancery Staffing Solutions LLC et al., case number unknown, in the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer.
-Additional reporting by Sam Reisman. Editing by Adam LoBelia.