FINDLAY, Ohio, June 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marathon Petroleum has terminated embattled law firm Balch & Bingham, which is accused of engaging in alleged racist misconduct and alleged tokenism in hiring practices.

The abrupt decision comes a day after Marathon CEO Michael J. Hennigan receiving a detailed report from the Consejo de Latinos Unidos (CDLU), a public charity and advocacy group, calling for Balch’s ouster.

“Black lives do matter! We applaud Marathon Petroleum for their bold decision to hold vendors and suppliers accountable for alleged egregious, immoral, and racist behavior. As a relatively new CEO, Mr. Hennigan has demonstrated outstanding and compassionate leadership,” declared K.B. Forbes, Chief Executive Officer of the CDLU, which has waged a three-year battle against the once-prestigious silk-stocking law firm based in Birmingham, Alabama.

Since 2016, Marathon has paid Balch $810,000 in lobbying fees, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

CDLU’s report gave details of the alleged racist misconduct:

• In 2018, former Balch & Bingham equity partner, Joel I. Gilbert, was convicted of six federal crimes in bribery and a money laundering scheme to suppress and disenfranchise African-Americans in North Birmingham, Alabama from having their toxic and contaminated property tested by the EPA.
• The bribery scheme also involved the horrific targeting of poor, African-American children of North Birmingham in a scurrilous “coat drive” where parents were allegedly “paid off” with $50 gift cards.  North Birmingham is 92.5 percent African-American, according to U.S. Census figures.
• Balch & Bingham was also advising and providing legal services to a limestone quarry company that allegedly engaged in a “whites-only” land grab in a historically African-American area of Vincent, Alabama. The company was also allegedly considering moving historic slave graves according to local news reports.
• Balch & Bingham’s convicted partner dispatched an unconscionable letter to a public charity in 2014 demanding a list of their financial supporters. Balch’s tactic is reminiscent of the 1960’s when segregationists and other racists demanded lists of supporters from the NAACP and other Civil Rights organizations to intimidate and instill fear in those supporters.
• Last year, Balch & Bingham let go of their only African-American female attorney in Birmingham, who headed diversity efforts at the firm. With over 200 attorneys, partners, and top staff throughout their footprint, only five Balch & Bingham attorneys at the firm are African-American, each one assigned to a different Balch office, reflecting alleged tokenism.
• Less than 2.5 percent of Balch & Bingham’s attorneys, partners, and top staff are African-American while six of the cities that Balch has offices in have majority African-American populations, one in which African-Americans represent 79 percent of the population.

Contact Info:
K.B. Forbes
kb@cdlu.org
+1-202-320-1212