Lawyer of the Day: Jack Tuckner
The legal profession is populated by some colorful characters — like our latest Lawyer of the Day, Jack Tuckner. From the New York Post:
A leading lower Manhattan women’s-rights lawyer watched porn at his desk, discussed his “pierced genitalia” and wears a “slave” collar at work as part of a sadomasochistic relationship with his girlfriend, a shocking sex- harassment suit alleges.Jack Tuckner, 50, whose law firm says it’s “dedicated to the empowerment of women in the workplace,” is a “self-described ‘testosterone-poisoned’ attorney with a penchant for bondage … who demeaned all of the women who worked for him,” says the suit.
It was filed yesterday in Manhattan Supreme Court by former office manager Lisa Brockington.
But if the slave-collar-wearing Tuckner is the “sub” in the S&M setup, doesn’t that make it okay? Isn’t he the one being demeaned, rather than the one doing the demeaning?
More after the jump.
Alas, the slave collar isn’t the end of the story:
During her two-year tenure at the firm - which [Brockington] quit in January - he called her “Aryan babe” and “the ultimate shiksa so highly coveted by inner-city Jews” and verbally abused female staffers to the point of tears, the suit says.“Tuckner told Brockington that he believed all women have fantasies about being raped,” the suit alleges. He also once suggested he had visited the bathroom to masturbate after staring at her, Brockington said.
Jack Tucker probably isn’t the first man to pleasure himself in a law firm bathroom. But it’s generally best to keep that kind of behavior to yourself (and clean the scene thoroughly). Summer associates, we hope you’re paying attention.
This story gets weirder and weirder:
The former manager claims Tuckner revealed he met his girlfriend, Mia Metzger, via an S&M Web site. He had a computer screen-saver display that “included a photo of Metzger dressed as a dominatrix with Tuckner dressed in black and kneeling at her feet.”When Brockington used Google to search for Metzger’s name, the suit says, she found a Web-site ad in which Metzger wrote: “I am a Dominant Woman with a long-term male slave. I seek to add a female service oriented slave to our family,” and also “a man who is interested in partnering with me in a cuckold relationship.”
Metzger is now a “client liaison” at the firm.
A “client liaison” — so that’s what they call it these days. What exactly are the duties of the position?
Brockington’s lawyer, employment-law maven Louis Pechman, said, “It’s unbelievably ironic that a lawyer who purports to vindicate the rights of women is accused of such demeaning and outrageous conduct.”Tuckner’s cases include a pregnancy-discrimination action against women’s-rights leader Faye Wattleton, a race-discrimination claim against Madison Square Garden and a bias suit against Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.
Tuckner’s lawyer, David Berlin, said of Brockington’s suit, “There is absolutely no truth to the allegations … and these irrational and untrue charges are a reflection of the person bringing the charges.”
You can check out Jack Tucker’s attorney profile by clicking here. The firm webpage is hosted on the domain name www.womensrightsny.com, and it’s full of floating women’s symbols and testimonials raving about Tucker as a crusader for wronged women. If there’s any truth to the allegations in Brockington’s lawsuit, the irony is too rich.
ANTI-BIAS CRUSADER HAS ‘KINK’ IN ARMOR [New York Post]
Jack Tuckner, Esq. [Tuckner, Sipser, Weinstock & Sipser]
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First! to say kinky
First! to say kinky is cool.
What next. Elliott Spitzer in drag?
"We suspect that Jack Tucker isn't the first man to pleasure himself in a law firm bathroom. "
I usually just close my office door. More privacy.
He is probably not even wearing pants in that picture which is why he has such a big creepy smile. He would fit right in working at Cravath.
I'm not sure most women have fantasies about being raped, but doesn't EVERYONE like a nice hate f*ck every now and then?
"Penchant for bondage" haha, sounds like Dr. Evil drafted the complaint...."my father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery"
A lawyer being sued for sexual harassment...yes, shocking indeed.
what's he doing with that pen!
I thought they taught proofreading at Yale/Wachtell. The man's name is Tuckner, not Tucker.
Who cares what his name is. He is not Cravath material.
"He is not Cravath material." (?)
Funny quip, but not so fast.
http://www.abovethelaw.com/2006/10/tax_lawyers_in_jail.php
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09292006/news/regionalnews/perv_plays_mother_card_regionalnews_laura_italiano.htm
http://blogonaut-blogonaut.blogspot.com/2007/12/fired-child-molesting-nyc-lawyer-sues.html
Tuckner would appear to be somewhere above the lowest Cravath atttorney hiring threshold.
I thought all women fantasized about being raped. No?
Some, yes, but most find it desturbing to have men talk about that--especially in the workplace.
That said, I suspect that this plaiitff thought everything was hunky dory until she quit or was fired.
Most people who are really offended by this stuff whould have quit on day 1.
first to say i'm shocked this wasn't posted by Kash
Cravath would most certainly hire this gentleman. It is C S&M after all.
What, no link to Mia Metzger's supposed ad? Can't ATL do even that much actual investigative reporting? Sheesh.
1:07: Unless, of course, she needed the money or didn't want to have to explain a hole in her resume while she looked for another job.
brockington was actually a client of tuckner's firm, apparently. her testimonial about the quality of his, ahem, legal services appears in the flash presentation that runs on the website (though it appears to have been taken down from the static client tesitmonials page).
How about a poll on masturbation practices at work?
whats up with this story? who doesnt watch porn or have some kind of fetish?
but it seems like lisa brockington quit not because she was turned off at the idea but because she had some health issues.
so how is watching porn (on one's computer) or fetish (with girlfriend) have anything to do with harassment suit...? so is this what they teach this ungrateful woman in her "law school" classroom? whoa!
@141:
If she quit on day 1, there would be no hole in her resume.
And I am sketpical that the plaintiff--if offended by the slave collars and bizarre talk--would have stuck it out. Most people of ordinary sensibility would have left before noon as soon as they took a gander at the SM getup.
Correct me if I am wrong, but could she not have at least have filed an EEOC complaint WITHOUT quitting her job?
Never hire someone you met when they were a plaintiff in a discrimination suit...duh!
1:41,
I understand your point that she might have not wanted a hole in her resume (which even quitting on day 1 would have done) or needed ther money, but I find it hard to believe that she stayed 2 years if she found the atmosphere to be...rather unsavory.
She likely laughed along with his jokes made a few of her own, until something else pissed her off.
I ain't sayin' she a Gold Digger, but she ain't messing with no broke ******....
If only it were that black and white...like any situation of abuse, it's not always so easy to "just quit" and disentangle yourself from the situation just like that. Given Lisa's prior history with Jack, the fact that she was his client and represented her in a case with a successful outcome, there was a whole lot of trust and admiration that went into their relationship. Not unlike a domestic violence case (for which there is documented research), it becomes very easy for one to ignore or make excuses for even the most disturbed behavior of someone who previously represented such a GOOD thing in that person's life.
So, let's just think a little bit before we dismiss things.
Can't you see John Travolta as perfect for the part of Jack Tuckner in the upcoming B-movie? Hey, what do you know, they have the same initials!
Trial by media! YES!
Until the actual facts come to light, why crucify Jack Tuckner? Read his website- there are dozens of kudos from former clients -most of whom are women- who were empowered and felt vindicated after working with him......something to be said for his lawyering. Too many of the "facts" are too good to be true. Wearing a leather studded collar? Screensaver of his leather clad Mistress? Posting her name when she isn't even involved in the alleged SH? And Lisa googled her name to find her so-called "ad"? PULEASE- "journalism" in America- NOT! Wait for the trial- wait for Jack Tuckner's side of it. Isn't that what justice is about??
Trial by media! YES!
Until the actual facts come to light, why crucify Jack Tuckner? Read his website- there are dozens of kudos from former clients -most of whom are women- who were empowered and felt vindicated after working with him......something to be said for his lawyering. Too many of the "facts" are too good to be true. Wearing a leather studded collar? Screensaver of his leather clad Mistress? Posting her name when she isn't even involved in the alleged SH? And Lisa googled her name to find her so-called "ad"? PULEASE- "journalism" in America- NOT! Wait for the trial- wait for Jack Tuckner's side of it. Isn't that what justice is about??
Trial by media! YES!
Until the actual facts come to light, why crucify Jack Tuckner? Read his website- there are dozens of kudos from former clients -most of whom are women- who were empowered and felt vindicated after working with him......something to be said for his lawyering. Too many of the "facts" are too good to be true. Wearing a leather studded collar? Screensaver of his leather clad Mistress? Posting her name when she isn't even involved in the alleged SH? And Lisa googled her name to find her so-called "ad"? PULEASE- "journalism" in America- NOT! Wait for the trial- wait for Jack Tuckner's side of it. Isn't that what justice is about??
11:20(1)-(3) = Jack Turner.
Tuckner. Whatever.
hey! lisa googled and found something that none of us can find. how come? the point is why the reporters who file such stories cannot just google and find out before wasting all our times?
Not guilty, by reason of being pro-woman. At least, that's the reason we didn't hear the women's groups back during the Clinton fiasco.
Jack Tuckner has posted a preliminary statement regarding the allegations of Lisa Brockington; http://womensrightsny.com/
Tuckner says:
"As anyone who has telephoned our firm from the moment of her hire until the day she quit would attest, Ms. Brockington only used kind and supportive words to describe my own lawyering skills, personality and deep commitment to my clients. Ms. Brockington’s own words completely undermine her present claims against me.
Her sensationalistic allegations, replete as they are with shocking and personally outrageous and destructive claims against me and this firm, are, simply stated, all lies. As a careful reading of her “story” will reveal, some of her allegations could not have actually occurred during the time period during which she worked for this firm, others are mere fantasy and pure fiction, and others are her attempt to conflate personal private, consensual behavior–of which I’ve been an outspoken champion for the entirety of my professional life–with non-existent workplace activity.
The local tabloid media reported these entirely unfounded and baseless claims against me and this firm raised by this one former disgruntled employee, yet did not feel it prudent or necessary to investigate her story in a quest for the whole truth."
Read more here:
http://womensrightsny.com/blog/2008/06/06/tuckner/
While watching porn or engaging in BDSM is not inherently wrong by any means, it is inappropriate and illegal to do so in the workplace. Odds are that it was required that Ms. Brockington and the other interns enter Mr. Tuckner's office in order to deliver messages and files, and upon doing so, it was evident that Mr. Tuckner was watching porn at his computer. Clearly, he's not as dedicated to women's rights as he claims to be. Allowing your girlfriend to dominate you does not make you a champion of civil rights!
Who proved Jack Tuckner was watching porn or enaging in BDSM in the workplace? Those are allegations! Affectional preferences are private and covered by the first amendment- and she is accusing him of the other actions- for her own benefit. It's not clear at all because she has muddied the waters with her sensationalist accusations designed to get maximum media coverage with a view toward his destruction (and his business, and Mia Metzger's and the fall out on their families). SHE googled Metzger-HER choice- no blame on Tuckner for an "ad" that Brockington "found". Except- where is the ad? Googling MM only brings up this stuff!!