Biglaw

Biglaw Firm Sets Up Sexual Harassment Whistleblowers Hotline, Wants Lawyers Who Kiss To Tell HR

This firm is very interested in its lawyers' and staff members' office couplings.

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From overbilling obnoxious clients to romantic rendezvous with coworkers, everyone knows that there’s a little hanky-panky going on behind closed doors at Biglaw firms. With that in mind, one firm wants to know exactly what its employees are up to when it comes to their workplace relationships (never mind the overbilling).

Thanks to the rise of the #MeToo era in the legal profession, RollOnFriday reports that Linklaters is now interested in its lawyers’ and staff members’ office couplings — not for the purpose of gossip, but to make sure that conflicts between people with unequal bargaining power don’t interfere with employee performance.

Under new guidance issued by the firm, staff are expected to tell HR or a department head about office romances so that they can be “properly managed in the interests of all of those involved in the relationship.” The global policy was not seeking to ban consensual relationships, said a spokeswoman, or about “prying into personal information.” Instead, it was “about acting as a responsible business by supporting our people.”

In a related initiative following a former partner’s conviction for sexual assault, Linklaters has set up “SpeakUp,” an anonymous whistleblowing hotline that will allow employees to report inappropriate behavior of a sexual nature. According to the firm, all claims left on the “SpeakUp” line will be investigated thoroughly, and no one named in a complaint will be permitted to serve as an investigator.

Congratulations to Linklaters for instituting progressive programs like these to balance power for women in the workplace. Though we can’t imagine that many people will be willing to report their sexual relationships to HR, the “SpeakUp” whistleblowing hotline is a tool that could prove to be extremely useful.

Linklaters tells staff to report office romances [RollOnFriday]

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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, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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