A federal judge in New Jersey called for the dismissal of a former paralegal’s discrimination suit against Reed Smith, but the self-represented plaintiff said that she’s not ready to drop the case.
Chief U.S. Judge Renee Marie Bumb stated in a March 9 order that La Mecia Ross-Tiggett’s suit against Reed Smith would be dismissed within 10 days based on her failure to respond to a previous court notice asking if she still wanted to pursue the matter.
Ross-Tiggett then wrote to the court in a notice posted online on Monday, saying she wants to continue litigating her claims, and didn’t get a copy off the court’s previous notice. She also asks the judge to accommodate her plans for an upcoming overseas trip.
It remains to be seen whether Bumb will give Ross-Tiggett another chance to pursue the case.
Bumb’s order says that “plaintiff having failed to inform the court that she intends to prosecute this matter, it is hereby ordered” that “the matter will be dismissed by order of the court within ten days of the entry of this order.”
If Bumb allows the case to go on, it could mean additional chapters in litigation that’s been going on for seven years and made one trip to a court of appeals.
Ross-Tiggett’s suit claimed that she was subject to discrimination at the law firm’s Princeton office based on her age, gender and race.
Bumb said in her order that the court did not hear back from Ross-Tiggett after a 2020 order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which declined to hear her appeal of discovery rulings.
Ross-Tiggett’s bid for an appeal at the Third Circuit cited a 2019 order from U.S. Magistrate Judge Anne Marie Donio, calling for dismissal of the suit based on Ross-Tiggett’s failure to comply with two discovery orders. Donio noted that Ross-Tiggett failed to comply with court orders to turn over audio recordings and notes.
The appeal also cited Bumb’s order giving Ross-Tiggett one last warning that further violations of a discovery order or other court deadline would result in dismissal of the suit with prejudice.
In April 2020, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit panel dismissed the appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction, finding the discovery orders were not final decisions and therefore not appealable.
Ross-Tiggett said when reached by phone that she relies on mailed notices in the case as a pro se litigant, but has not been getting mail from the court recently. Asked if there were any issues in the case that were ripe for adjudication, she said yes, but declined to comment further.
Reed Smith’s lawyer, Domenick Carmagnola of Carmagnola & Ritardi in Morristown, did not respond to requests for comment.
Ross-Tiggett, who is Black, was hired by the Princeton office of Pittsburgh-based Reed Smith in July 2012, and later was made a paralegal. She claimed that she had received positive reviews and at least one accolade during her first two years, but, after 46 days as a paralegal, she was on a performance-improvement plan, citing “numerous fictitious performance deficiencies,” including violations of work group policies. She claimed she was forced to work an overnight shift as retaliation for complaining about discrimination.
Domenick Carmagnola of Carmagnola & Ritardi. Courtesy photoThe suit alleged “a pattern of hiring and promoting younger white and Latina staff with less experience to better paying position[s] with a more lucrative career track than similarly situated African-American staff, despite at times, the African-American staff being more credentialed and qualified.”
Ross-Tiggett was passed over in this manner despite actively pursuing advancement measures, she claimed, adding that white and Latina staffers with genuine performance issues were not subject to the same adverse actions.
