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 have a story about a drunken encounter between a Biglaw partner and two women, both associates, who were forced to endure sexual harassment from a man who had a well-known reputation for this kind of behavior at the firm. These are real emails that we’ve received from real readers.
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This was several years ago when I worked in Biglaw, and this happened at the litigation practice group retreat, which, that year, was held at a remote property in Northern Georgia — think something straight out of The Shining. Of course, the bar had been flowing since the early afternoon, and by the time it was the official “cocktail hour” or “welcome hour” or “happy hour,” most of the attorneys, but particularly the partners, especially those who were escaping the wife and kids for the weekend, were trashed. For example, the managing partner of the practice group was so bombed he was slurring his words to the point where he would inadvertently spit red wine at you as you talked to him.
At any rate, me and one of my friends, a female coworker (we’ll call her “A”) were awaiting the arrival of our third partner in crime (we’ll call her “B”) who pulled the short straw and got stuck at the office while everyone else was boozing in the woods. We had already convinced the bartender to give us a bottle of vodka and mixers that we could take to the room I was sharing with B and had invited our other friends to come to our room so we didn’t have to drink around people we didn’t like (sorry, not sorry).
A and B had recently had a trade secret case involving sippy cups, and A thought it would be funny to bring sippy cups to the party in mine and B’s room for us to drink from. The packaging on the sippy cup said something pretty tongue-in-cheek (for adults) like “helps with proper sucking” — something to that effect.
B finally arrives and A gives her a sippy cup and the three of us start to head to our room to begin the real party. As we’re about to leave the conference room, a VERY drunk senior partner in an office where none of us practiced (we’ll call him “C”) asks us “where we think we’re going,” proceeds to wrap his arms around mine and B’s waists, caress our lower backs and waistlines, and complimenting us on how “pretty” we are. Gross. In an attempt to get away, B and I are like, “oh, we’ll be back, we just have to drop this off in our room,” and C’s basically like, “great I’ll come too,” and starts forcing us to walk back to where the rooms are located. C was not in the best shape, and we were convinced that between B and I we could take him, but C just would not get the hint and kept pushing us down the hallway. We misdirected him, and in the kerfuffle C sees B’s sippy cup and makes a comment about how she doesn’t need that because she probably doesn’t have a problem with “sucking.” Yeah. Gross. Luckily, we run into some male associates who distract C and presumably he eventually found his way back to the bar.
A, B, and I are silent about it for the rest of the retreat and at the office, until some partner confronts A about hearing that B and I got groped by C, who apparently has established quite a reputation for himself in that regard that was well-known by the firm. Despite the fact that neither B nor I reported the behavior directly, HR “investigated” the whole thing by GRILLING both B and I several times with various partners and HR present, instructing us not to talk to each other about the incident, and asking to see our cell phones and personal emails to see if anything had been discussed between us. This is a Southern firm, so they’re not exactly cutting edge with wokeness. Additionally, during the course of the investigation, both B and I learned that C actually was the billing partner for a major portfolio of litigation matters we had been handling. I got the distinct impression that if I ruffled too many feathers, that work would be taken from me, which would have killed my billable hours. I had another job offer that I was most likely going to accept, so I ultimately downplayed what happened as C being “too drunk” and was like, “maybe we should have a mechanism for controlling partners’ and associates’ alcohol intake,” rather than focusing on the sexual harassment and assault angle. In my exit interview, I was specifically asked if the incident affected my decision to leave, but I lied and said no.
Both B and I were assured during the numerous interviews we had that C would be talked to and “appropriate actions” would be taken against him as they were “not acceptable” and not part of “the culture” of the firm. C is still working there as a partner, though, most likely due to his very large book of business, numerous accolades, etc.
I practice employment law now, and in retrospect, I should have made a huge deal about it, threatened a lawsuit, and took a nice vacation with my settlement proceeds.
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.
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Staci 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.