Closed
Race Discrimination in Employment
Settled in 1993 for $38.4 million and Injunctive Relief  

In 1986, after the plaintiffs' initial lawyer withdrew, Paul Sprenger and Jane Lang were asked to take over the prosecution of a lawsuit with class action allegations in which several employees had alleged a pattern of racial discrimination against Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO), the electric utility in the Washington, DC area. At the time, the plaintiffs' case was in disarray. The Judge in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia had ruled that the proposed class was too broad to be certified, and PEPCO was effectively blocking virtually all discovery. Over the years, the firm reversed the case's fortunes.

Victory in several motion battles before the Court allowed extensive discovery to proceed regarding PEPCO's alleged pattern or practice of discrimination to. In 1992 the Judge certified a class of black rejected applicants and a second class of black current and former non-exempt employees to prosecute a wide variety of claims. The Judge ruled against a class of exempt employees, so the firm promptly joined scores of black managers and professionals as plaintiffs asserting a pattern or practice of discrimination. With that ruling turning into a pyrrhic victory, PEPCO decided to settle shortly before the commencement of trial. It agreed to pay $38.4 million to the class (then the largest employment discrimination judgment in the District of Columbia) and to sweeping changes in personnel practices set forth in a Consent Decree for a term of five years. 

Reported Decisions:

• 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18648 (D.D.C. Dec. 4, 1992)
• 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15208 (D.D.C. Oct. 6, 1992)
• 58 F.E.P. Cases 355 (D.D.C. 1990)
• 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15407 (D.D.C. Dec. 21, 1989)