December.04.2019
A California appellate court today rejected an effort to revive class gender discrimination claims against Twitter, backing the arguments of our Supreme Court and Appellate and Employment teams in one of the most closely-watched gender bias cases in the tech industry.
The First District Court of Appeal upheld a lower court ruling that found plaintiff in Huang v. Twitter failed to establish a common factual predicate for the case to proceed as a class action under applicable state law. The case was brought on behalf of women engineers who claimed discrimination in Twitter’s pay and promotions policies, but the appeals court noted that there was no uniform policy the plaintiffs can rely upon to secure class status.
“Twitter is pleased with today’s ruling and will continue to vigorously defend against the Plaintiff’s claims,” the company said in a statement. “We are deeply committed to an inclusive and diverse workplace, and to the fair and equitable treatment of all our employees.”
The appellate effort was led by partner Eric Shumsky, who argued in the First District, and employment partners Lynne Hermle and Jessica Perry, who successfully litigated the class certification issue in the lower court.