Sexual Harassment

Partner of the Day, Eh: Canadian Lawyer Sues Two of His Former Associates

By

David Cowling, Mathews, Dinsdale & Clarke partner and alleged booty dancer

Sometimes law firm after-hours parties get pretty wild. The Great Recession didn’t put a damper on one Toronto firm’s celebrations last year. In January 2009, Mathews, Dinsdale & Clarke threw a rager in honor of its annual labour law “moot” competition for Canadian law students. (We mentioned this story briefly in yesterday’s Non-Sequiturs.)

After awards were given out at a dinner, the lawyerly crew headed to Toronto night club Cheval, for bottle service and dancing. Things got a little crazy. One senior associate got so hammered that “he left the club without his coat or keys and vomited in the taxi cab as it left the club.” And one partner, David Cowling, allegedly got too friendly with some of the female associates while grinding on the dance floor.

Two associates complained about his behavior to other partners, and now Cowling is suing the two associates (who have since left the firm) for defamation and intentional interference with economic relations.

So what did they allege?

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Partner of the Day, Eh: Canadian Lawyer Sues Two of His Former Associates”

41 Comments

Lawyer of the Day, or Judge of the Day? We Report, You Decide.

By

Hippocrate “Cheecho” Mertsaris: Does he have a weakness for judicial buttocks?

In a few weeks, an interesting trial will be getting underway in Queens Criminal Court here in New York. The underlying incident should provide fodder for either a Lawyer of the Day or a Judge of the Day — but it’s not clear which.

The episode giving rise to the criminal charges was reported back in May by the New York Daily News:

A disabled lawyer accused of touching the rear end of a Taxi and Limousine Commission judge is blaming it on his cerebral palsy. Queens prosecutors have charged Hippocrate Mertsaris, 35, with sexual abuse and sexual harassment for allegedly grabbing the woman’s inner thigh and buttocks during a meeting in her Kew Gardens offices.

Mertsaris’ lawyer, Wyatt Gibbons, admits his client touched the woman but denies it was sexual. “He whacked her in the butt but it wasn’t sexual abuse,” Gibbons said. “He has spastic movements.”

Let’s dig a little deeper….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Lawyer of the Day, or Judge of the Day? We Report, You Decide.”

84 Comments

Pls Hndle Thx: The Most Insane Question You’ve Ever Read, Guaranteed

By

Ed. note: Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com

Ed. note II: Holy s**t.

Dear ATL,

I was a summer associate at a mid-sized AmLaw 100 firm in ’07, where I was assigned a mentor (hereinafter “Mentor”) who was a junior associate that summer.  I am now a junior-ish associate at the firm, and Mentor is a mid-level in my department. Mentor continues to be a good friend, and we often hang out outside of work.  At work, Mentor is responsible for channeling a lot of work my way and is my go-to person for questions and review.  Partners and other associates widely regard Mentor as the rising star in our department….

UPDATE: What follows contains adult content. There are no images, but there is description of sexual activity. We’ve placed the rest of the discussion after the jump; if you think you might be offended, stop reading here.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Pls Hndle Thx: The Most Insane Question You’ve Ever Read, Guaranteed”

109 Comments

Is Debrahlee Lorenzana’s Former Lawyer a Creepy Dude?

By

It’s been a couple of days since we’ve mentioned former Citibank banker Debrahlee Lorenzana. In fairness, I’ve been afraid to criticize her and risk alienating all of the women in the world.

Maybe her former lawyer is safer ground? A couple of days ago we mentioned that Lorenzana hired Gloria Allred. But yesterday news surfaced about the lawyer Lorenzana fired, Jack Tuckner. Dealbreaker claims that Debrahlee might have just fired the perfect man for her case:

Specifically, Lorenzana says that she was told not to wear pencil skirts or stilettos. And while Tuckner may be the creepiest lawyer of all time, it turns out he has deep knowledge of this sort of footwear (and the other accoutrement that might fill out the ensemble), and how its presence in the corporate world can only enhance business, such as when a stilleto is shoved up one’s ass.

Yeah, it turns out that Tuckner is no stranger to sexual harassment claims…

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Is Debrahlee Lorenzana’s Former Lawyer a Creepy Dude?”

11 Comments

Debrahlee Lorenzana’s Breasts: An Attractive Nuisance

By

It seems the world can’t get enough of Debrahlee Lorenzana, the former Citibank employee who alleges she was fired because she was “too hot.” She’s been making the rounds of the morning talk shows, and people have been absolutely gushing about her figure, which allegedly got her fired.

But could you call her body an attractive nuisance to the men and women who supposedly persecuted her for her beauty? Perhaps, since it now appears that Debrahlee’s boobs were not endowed, but acquired. Dealbreaker reports:

In this clip of her aforementioned knockers surgery, … she says she pumped them up to meet “a professional, well-educated man.”

Dealbreaker has a full clip of Debrahlee’s appearance on Plastic Surgery New York Style. Click here to watch it.

You could say that the video defines the word “busted”….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Debrahlee Lorenzana’s Breasts: An Attractive Nuisance”

87 Comments

Update: Rotunda v. Zengerle Has Settled

By

Last month we covered the somewhat salacious suit that law professor Kyndra Rotunda filed against her former employer, George Mason University School of Law; a GMU law professor, Joseph Zengerle; and the law school’s dean, Daniel Polsby. As we reported, most of the counts, including the juiciest sexual harassment claims, were dismissed.

Some state-law claims for assault and battery were still kicking around. Now those claims have also been settled, according to the ABA Journal.

So what are the terms of the settlement?

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Update: Rotunda v. Zengerle Has Settled”

8 Comments

Quote of the Day Last Week: And so would Helen Thomas….

By

Debrahlee Lorenzana would be very attractive in a burka.

– Jack Tuckner, the lawyer representing the woman who claims she was too sexy for Citibank, speaking about his comely client.

39 Comments

Lawsuit of the Day: Woman Claims She Was Fired for Being Too Attractive

By

You know something is capturing cultural attention when your mother asks, “Did you write about that woman who got fired for being attractive?”

Earlier this week, the Village Voice ran a cover story on a woman who is suing Citibank for wrongful termination. She claims that her bosses found her too hot — and thus distracting to the other people trying to do their jobs.

I know, I know — pictures or it didn’t happen….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Lawsuit of the Day: Woman Claims She Was Fired for Being Too Attractive”

119 Comments

(Dismissed) Lawsuit of the Day: Rotunda v. Zengerle

By

Last year, law professor Kyndra Rotunda filed a federal lawsuit against her former employer, George Mason University School of Law; a GMU law professor, Joseph Zengerle; and the law school’s dean, Daniel Polsby. Rotunda raised claims of sexual harassment, retaliation, pay discrimination, and constructive discharge, alleging that she was sexually harassed by Zengerle when they worked together at a legal assistance clinic for military service members.

Rotunda claimed that the law school “knowingly” tolerated Zengerle’s behavior and that the administration did not respond properly when she raised complaints about Zengerle. Before filing her suit, Rotunda declared: “I was sexually harassed at one of America’s upper-tier law schools, and they shouldn’t be able to get away with it.”

Last week, a judge dismissed much of Rotunda’s lawsuit. From Tony Mauro of the BLT:

A federal judge on Friday dismissed most of law professor Kyndra Rotunda’s sexual harassment lawsuit against George Mason University School of Law professor Joseph Zengerle, the school’s dean and the school itself. Judge Leonie Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled from the bench after a hearing on motions to dismiss the case.

“It was a very good day,” said law school dean Daniel Polsby, who described the lawsuit as a “very serious abuse of the system.” He added, “The civil rights laws are very important. When they are abused, they are attacked.”

So what’s left in the lawsuit after the dismissal?

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “(Dismissed) Lawsuit of the Day: Rotunda v. Zengerle”

31 Comments

Man Wins Sexual Discrimination Case Against Law Firm

By

Angela Reinholz: Apparently getting pregnant didn't screw her enough.

It takes balls to file this kind of lawsuit.

A man working for the British firm Eversheds filed a sexual discrimination lawsuit after being fired from the firm. He claimed that the firm should have fired a woman out on maternity leave — but Eversheds didn’t because it was worried that the woman would file a sexual discrimination lawsuit.

Catch-22 for Eversheds? Maybe. The English Employment Tribunal ruled in favor of the laid off man. The Daily Mail (gavel bang: ABA Journal) reports:

John de Belin won £123,000 in damages after one of Britain’s biggest law firms ‘deprived him of his livelihood’.

Mr de Belin, 45, was one of two associates facing redundancy from Eversheds’ property division in Leeds. The other was Angela Reinholz, 40.

To decide who would be sacked, the firm undertook an assessment of both Mr de Belin’s and Mrs Reinholz’s abilities, including financial performance, discipline history and absence records.

Mr de Belin was fired in February 2009 after losing by just half a point, scoring 27 out of 39 in the exercise against Mrs Reinholz’s 27.5.

The problem was that Reinholz’s score was “inflated” while she was out on maternity leave…

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Man Wins Sexual Discrimination Case Against Law Firm”

59 Comments
Page 10 of 111...67891011