Sexism, Sexual Harassment, Women's Issues

The Pink Ghetto: Sickening Examples Of Sexual Harassment In Law Firms

We owe it to ourselves and future generations to stop this from continuing to happen.

By  
on

sexual harassmentWelcome back to The Pink Ghetto, a series where we take a look at some of the most appalling stories from one of the most sexist industries in the world: the legal profession. Today, we’ll take a look at the various types of sexism and sexual harassment women are subjected to in their careers as lawyers. These are real emails that we’ve received from real readers.

When you see things like this happening, say something. Together, we can inspire the change necessary to stop this disturbing behavior from being so prevalent in the law. We owe it to ourselves and future generations.

While attending a mandatory attorney dinner, my boss entered and yelled, “What are you doing here? I thought this was a boys night.” I was the only female attorney employed by the firm at the time.

At my last firm the following things happened: A male attorney asked me to walk in front of him when I was wearing a skirt so that he could look at my butt. My boss later screamed at me in front of the entire office about something that was not work related, including my staff, and then came into my office, closed the door, kissed me on the head, and told me it would be okay because he loved me. And that was only in the last few months I was there. In the prior two years, there was incident after incident similar to these.

Sponsored

My first name is considered a “boy’s name,” and men at my firm would always call me “Mr. Jones” or transgender, and would ask when I was having my penis removed.

While trying to discuss a case with my supervisor, he commented on how I was wearing man shoes. When I frustratingly responded that he only ever seems to care what I wear (he made comments about my appearance constantly) as opposed to what I do, he told me I don’t do anything. I handled 150 litigation cases at the time. That same supervisor asked that I give him 6 months advance notice before getting pregnant so he could fire me. While trying to discuss a case with another supervisor, my boss kept interrupting me to ask when I was having babies, and if I wanted him to show me how to have babies with my husband. He then specified that he could show me “which hole to put it in.” Every time I tried to get help from HR or my supervisor about any of these experiences, I was told, “That’s just how it is.”

Do you have a law school or law firm story you’d like to see appear in The Pink Ghetto? Email me (subject line: “The Pink Ghetto”) or find me on Twitter, @StaciZaretsky. You will be kept anonymous. Submissions are always welcome.

Sponsored

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Topics

, , , , ,