A Chicago law firm that secured a quick settlement from the Chicago Bears in a lawsuit accusing the organization of anti-white racial discrimination has now asked a federal judge for a time out in that case, saying they have filed suit against one of the firm's former paralegals, who served as the lead plaintiff in the action against the Bears, flagging their ex-employee for allegedly interfering with the deal, allegedly out of anger at the amount of legal fees the firm was claiming from the settlement.
On Oct. 22, the Trent Law Firm, of Chicago, asked a Chicago federal judge for a stay in the proceedings in the case against the Bears.
In that motion, the Trent Law Firm said more work may be needed to finalize the settlement with the Bears, as they pursue legal action against their former paralegal, Jonathan Bresser Jr.
The case against the Bears touched down in federal court in March, when attorneys from the Trent firm filed suit against the team on behalf of Bresser, the plaintiff.
Bresser, identified as a white male student at DePaul University's Law School, claimed in the action that the Bears had violated federal anti-discrimination laws by limiting a so-called "diversity" jobs program only to law school students who are "people of color" or female.
In addition to the Bears organization itself, the lawsuit also named as defendants the team's Chairman George McCaskey and members of the organization's human resources and "diversity, equity and inclusion" teams.
According to the lawsuit, Bresser responded to a job listing through the program for a "Legal Diversity Fellow" position.
According to the lawsuit, the Bears specifically listed in the job posting that applicants must be "a person of colar and/or female law student." The job ad also listed other qualifications for the position, including "a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale;" "demonstrated ability to maintain confidentiality;" "excellent research and writing skills;" "proficient in Microsoft Office ... and Adobe Acrobat;" and "demonstrated ability to effectively manage and prioritize multiple projects ..., deadlines and initiatives with minimal supervision."
In the lawsuit, Bresser claimed he met or exceeded every listed qualification for the position, except for being a white male.
The lawsuit sought a court order requiring the Bears to end hiring practices based on race and gender and directing the Bears and the individual defendants to pay him unspecified money damages, plus attorney fees.
According to court documents and his Linkedin profile, Bresser worked at the Trent Law Firm at the time the lawsuit was filed.
Court documents have not disclosed the terms of any such settlement.
However, according to the Oct. 22 filing, that settlement has allegedly now been jeopardized by alleged acts of potential sabotage by Bresser.
In the filing, the Trent Law Firm said it intended to file suit against Bresser in Cook County Circuit Court.
According to the motion for stay, Bresser allegedly "resigned abruptly" from the Trent firm on Sept. 27. According to the motion, he had worked for the firm since 2021 after he was allegedly "hired based on a recommendation and received extensive professional training and mentorship from Marc Trent, the firm's managing partner."
Then, on Oct. 19, Bresser reportedly terminated the Trent firm as his attorneys in the case.
According to the motion, this termination allegedly occurred after "a settlement had already been reached, but before the disbursement of settlement funds."
According to the motion, before he left the firm, Bresser allegedly also did not file a lien notice needed to ensure the Trent firm could secure attorney fees for their work in the case under the settlement.
According to the motion, Bresser allegedly understood this lien notification to be a part of his job with the firm and allegedly "falsely assured Trent that it had been completed."
"This omission jeopardized the Trent Law Firm's ability to recover its fees from the settlement," the Trent firm wrote in its motion.
The motion further accused Bresser of other alleged misconduct before he left the firm, "including deleting digital files related to ongoing cases, altering office system passwords without providing the updated credentials, and misusing the firm's PACER account to print over 1,000 pages of unrelated documents." These actions allegedly resulted in the suspension of the firm's account to access the PACER system, which provides access to federal court documents.
In their motion, the Trent firm said it believes Bresser may have allegedly taken these alleged actions to "retain a larger share of the settlement proceeds for himself."
According to the motion, the Trent firm said it believes Bresser may have been dissatisfied with the amount of money the firm was extracting from the settlement as legal fees.
According to the motion, the firm and Bresser have been unable to resolve their dispute outside of court.
The firm said it intends to file suit against Bresser in Cook County Circuit Court.
The Trent firm said that lawsuit "is crucial to determining the validity of Trent Law Firm's fee claims and the extent of Bresser's alleged misconduct, which will directly affect the proceedings in this federal case."
The Trent firm asked the federal judge presiding over its case against the Bears to place that case on hold until it can resolve its dispute with Bresser.
"The stay would prevent any irreversible harm to Trent Law Firm’s interests if the Court avoids taking actions that could potentially undermine the state court’s resolution of key factual matters related to Bresser’s responsibilities and actions and avoid a premature adjudication of the case," the Trent firm said.
No notice of that termination has yet been filed on the case's docket in federal court, nor has any other attorney yet entered an appearance on Bresser's behalf.
The judge has not yet ruled on the stay request, but indicated on Oct. 23 that the parties were renewing settlement talks. The judge did not clearly state the new settlement conference was as a result of the Trent Law Firm's motion to pause proceedings.