Lawyers Club Blog (ARCHIVE)

Why the outing of sexual harassers is not enough

Originally published in the San Diego Union Tribune

As the #Metoo campaign unfolds and the lives of powerful men crumble before our very eyes, Time magazine has made the bold choice to select the Silence Breakers as Persons of the Year. Like many feminists, I applaud the magazine’s choice, but my cheer is tempered by caution. To be sure, the outing of the most brazen and most powerful of sexual harassers may be vindicating to women who have suffered in silence for so long. But to me, the key challenge is not determining how to proportionately punish the harassers, nor is it how we can better nip harassment in the bud, or even how to prevent a culture of harassment from blossoming in the workplace. Instead, the more relevant, albeit the more vexing problem is, what makes our industries – from media to academia, from entertainment to law – so ripe for sexual harassment?

Combatting Sexual Harassment

Daily news feeds are filled with stories of women coming forward with allegations of sexual harassment in a variety of industries. Allegations in the tech and entertainment industries have made headlines, but these issues equally impact attorneys.  Several issues contribute to sexual harassment in the legal profession:

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same . . .

I was on the Lawyers Club Board when, on September 9, 1991, we approved a statement written by then President Rebecca Prater that opposed the appointment of Judge Clarence Thomas to Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Testimony regarding his appointment was scheduled to begin the next day and Anita Hill testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee a month later.

“Why Jamie Quient’s Disclosure Was Important”

For those of you who missed it—in February’s “LC News,” our President, Jamie Quient bravely disclosed an incident of sexual harassment that happened to her when she was a law student intern. Why is it important for people like this to speak out about past incidents of sexual harassment?

Stand Up, Speak Out, Take Action

“What’s your sexual fantasy?” 
Not exactly the question I expected to get from a partner at a law firm where I was interning in law school. But there I was, like I deer caught in headlights, expected to answer in front of a group of colleagues at a work-sponsored function.

Stories to Solutions: Post #1

It was just two years ago.  I was a law clerk for a seasoned male attorney in San Diego. I was actually getting paid (!), finishing law school, and succeeding at a job that I hoped to return to after the bar exam. That was, until, the sexual harassment began. It happened multiple times, over a span of about two weeks. There was the joke about whether or not I was wearing underwear. There was the time he attributed the fact I was single to being insubordinate because I dared to have an opinion contrary to his. The last straw came when, after I spent hours researching and writing an important brief, he reduced my likelihood of success down to whether or not the judge hearing the case would find me sexually attractive.

Notorious RBG to the Rescue!

Like many of you, I’m feeling disheartened these days by all the negative news and nasty rhetoric out there, particularly as it relates to women and our place in society. The founding mothers of feminism must surely be rolling in their graves just as we modern day feminists are shocked by what we are witnessing in the presidential election campaign. Need I say more? And at work, my inbox fills with article after article about gender disparity in pay at law firms, women’s underrepresentation in the legal ranks, sexual harassment claims in the legal academy, and so forth. No wonder many women feel discouraged these days, even women in the legal profession who arguably yield great influence and power over their own circumstances and fate.

Lawyers Club’s Enough is Enough campaign continues with launch of “Stories to Solutions” blog series – a safe space to share your stories and work towards solutions.

In response to the sexual assault and harassment allegations that emerged in the Presidential election, First Lady Michelle Obama declared “enough is enough.” Mrs. Obama’s speech struck a chord with me (along with millions of others) as she took on the issue that so many women and men face in their personal and professional lives. This discussion goes far beyond partisan politics - it strikes at the heart who we are as a country.