Cyrus Mehri is a founding partner of Mehri & Skalet, PLLC. He litigates cases involving discrimination, civil and consumer rights, and corporate fraud. Fast Company says, “He is something of a one-man army in the battle against business as usual… His impact – both in terms of penalties and remedies – is undeniable,” while the New York Times says, “Mr. Mehri’s vision for corporate America involves sweeping change, not the piecemeal kind.”
Mr. Mehri’s reputation is well-earned. He has led and co-led some of the largest and most significant race and gender cases in U.S. history, including Roberts v. Texaco Inc., which resulted in a $176 million award for discrimination, and Ingram v. The Coca-Cola Company, which resulted in a $192 million settlement. Both the Texaco and Coca-Cola settlements included a Court appointed Task Force overseeing sweeping improvements in promotion, compensation, evaluation and other HR systems. Cyrus Mehri also spearheaded the Robinson v. Ford Motor Company case, which resulted in the creation of 279 apprenticeship positions for African-American employees and a $10 million payment, as well as creation of new state-of-the-art testing protocols for apprenticeship positions. Mr. Mehri achieved similar settlements involving selection procedures with other companies such as Alcoa and Visteon. Cyrus Mehri also played a lead role in the $24 million settlement against John Hancock Life Insurance Company, resolving claims of decades-old discriminatory practices in the sale and marketing of life insurance policies to African-Americans, including a $15 million cy pres component to be distributed to organizations that benefit African-American communities.
The “Women on Wall Street” project, which Mr. Mehri launched with the National Council of Women’s Organizations to end discrimination against women in financial institutions, has achieved settlements with Morgan Stanley & Co. ($47 million), Smith Barney ($33 million) and Wells Fargo/Wachovia ($32 million), exceeding $114 million in total, along with transforming the opportunities available to women on Wall Street. He also served as co-lead counsel in the Pars Equality Center case challenging the travel ban, which was cited favorably in the dissenting Supreme Court opinions.
As co-founder of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, an affinity group for NFL minority coaches, front office and scouting personnel that advocates for the hiring and promotion of minority candidates within the NFL ranks, Mr. Mehri has worked to dramatically change the face of NFL management—and level the playing field.After he wrote, with Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., Black Coaches in the National Football League: Superior Performance, Inferior Opportunities, the NFL adopted the “Rooney Rule,” a comprehensive diversity program under which the NFL has reached historical numbers of black management personnel, including head coaches. For seven straight years after the 2006 season, one or both clubs in the Super Bowl featured an African-American General Manager or Head Coach.
The NFL also looked to Mr. Mehri to implement a new Player Assessment Test (PAT), an innovative tool to capture the non-physical attributes of a successful NFL player and to reduce socioeconomic bias in the drafting process. The PAT was unveiled at the 2013 Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and has been used by most of the NFL Clubs.
For his advocacy, in 2014, Mr. Mehri was given the Cornell Law School Public Service Award. Hartwick College chose Mr. Mehri as its 2009 Commencement Speaker and inaugural alumni hall of fame. The Detroit City Council passed a testimonial resolution honoring Mr. Mehri and wishing him “continued success in changing the fabric of America, and the Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C. awarded Cyrus Mehri its Award of Excellence and the City of Miami gave him the Distinguished Visitor Award.
He was named by Regardie’s Power magazine as one of “Washington’s Ten Most Feared Lawyers” and by Workforce magazine as “Corporate America’s Scariest Opponent. In 2019, Mr. Mehri accepted the Diversity and Trailblazing Award at the D&I Honors hosted by Diverse & Engaged. You can view the video here.
