Williams Mullen Gags On Cucumber

Last year, prominent Richmond law firm Williams Mullen was hit with a lawsuit from a former employee alleging racial discrimination and sexual harassment. It was a juicy one — cucumber juicy.

Vietnam native Hanh Nguyen Allgood, 53, who was a case manager for the firm, claimed that a partner rubbed up against her in an elevator with a surprise in his pants:

When the doors closed, Robert Eicher pretended to be sad and depressed. He asked Allgood for a hug. When she complied, he pressed his genital area against Allgood’s left thigh. Allgood felt something hard pressing against her thigh and attempted to pull away from him. Eicher held Allgood tighter to prevent her from pulling away, and pressed his genital area against her thigh even harder. Allgood was horrified. She pushed him away and stepped back. In response, Eicher laughed and pulled a cucumber out of his pants pocket.

Eicher also allegedly asked inappropriate questions about her vajayjay:

Litigation partner Robert Eicher bears the brunt of Allgood’s sexual harassment allegations. According to her complaint, he asked when he first met her whether “her vagina was vertical or horizontal,” a reference to “a horrible racial slur bandied about by some American soldiers during the Viet Nam War contending that Vietnamese women had vertical vaginas.”

Um, aren’t all hoo-has vertical?

In an article about another Williams Mullen employee suing the firm, Richmond’s Style Weekly provided some updates on the case from Allgood’s attorney. Williams Mullen was not pleased. Reports an ATL reader:

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No oral in Cucumber-Gate, per the new gag order.

What was it that Williams Mullen couldn’t swallow?

Here’s an excerpt from the Style Weekly article that Williams Mullen choked on:

In a meeting last month in Washington, Allgood’s attorney, Ardra M. O’Neal, says [Williams Mullen’s Vice Chair, Jim] Meath added insult to injury, poking fun at Allgood’s enunciation of the car he drives.

“He made fun of the way Hanh pronounces ‘Jaguar’,” says O’Neal, who once worked at Hunton and Williams. “He couched it in terms that they had a great rapport.”

Meath also attempted to settle the lawsuit, but O’Neal would accept no less than $300,000.

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Williams Mullen didn’t mind reports of its continuing ethnic insensitivity. Instead, it was unhappy about O’Neal discussing settlement talks. After the article came out, WM went down on to the court and filed an emergency motion [PDF].

From Virginia Lawyers Weekly:

Unhappy with a published report about settlement talks and tawdry comments on a radio show, Richmond’s Williams Mullen law firm had a judge impose a gag order on the parties and their lawyers in a sexual harassment lawsuit against the firm…. The order bars communication with “any form of media” as long as the case is pending.

So, sadly, it looks like there won’t be anything more coming out about this case, at least for now. Damn that gag reflex.

Williams Mullen Faces Second Lawsuit, Sans Cucumber [Style]
Williams Mullen gets gag order in civil case [Virginia Lawyers Weekly]

Earlier: Racial Discrimination and Sexual Harassment — With a Cucumber? — Alleged at Williams Mullen