Welcome 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 some of the ways that men and women have been helping each other to stop sexism and sexual harassment from happening in the workplace. These are real emails that we’ve received from real readers.
In the future, when you see inappropriate things happening to women in your workplace, say something. Together, we can inspire the change necessary to stop this disturbing behavior from being so prevalent in the law.
I hate that this stuff still happens. I can’t believe that everything we’ve been fighting for in the last several decades hasn’t moved us further. But, I want to give you an example of guys doing the right thing.
When I was a senior associate, my male partner and I worked together with two male attorneys from another North Carolina law firm to represent a male defendant accused of campaign finance allegations. One day we were to meet with the two other attorneys and the client in a conference room at our offices. The elder of the two other attorneys is in his upper 70s and a legal lion in this state. The four of us attorneys arrived prior to our client. When our client arrived, being the junior member of the team, I got up and asked if I could offer him some coffee, which he accepted. The older outside attorney jumped up and said, “No, no, no, let me get that.” He refused to let the only female in the room be relegated to serving the client coffee, whether she was the junior member of the team or not. Some of them get it and set a great example for the next generations.
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I’m a (young, curvy, fashionable and fairly outgoing) law firm librarian and have experienced my fair share of attorneys leering or projecting their “sexy librarian” fantasy onto me. I’m fortunate to work at a firm that takes these things quite seriously and I have no doubt my boss and administration have my back. One of my favorite things about law firm librarianship is being part of a specialized team of mostly women in Biglaw. It really helps to have their support when I’ve found myself slipping into the Pink Ghetto.
Do you have a law school or law firm story you’d like to see appear in The Pink Ghetto? Please email me with “The Pink Ghetto” in the subject line (or find me on Twitter: @StaciZaretsky). You will be kept anonymous. Submissions are always welcome!
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Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. She’d love to hear from you, so feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.