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Vote on Desiree Davidson's Story
Were they afraid we were planning a coup d'etat?
I spent my first summer during Columbia Law School at a firm in Philadelphia described as one of the best places in the city for black lawyers. I believed that if there was any place where I would have an equal chance at opportunities, be treated fairly and succeed, this would be it. There were three black female summer associates out of sixty that year but any time all three of us were in an office talking, one of the partners would knock on the door to see how we were doing. It happened too often to be a coincidence that sometimes we would purposely agree to meet in so-and-so's office to test our theory that we were being monitored. Like clock work, ten minutes after we would get together a partner would stop by.
Mindy Kipple's Experiences
I started leaving many months before I actually left. I had been there for 14 years. I had loved the company for so long. But the culture had changed with new management.
A year before the company offered domestic partner benefits, they announced other enhancements to the benefits package. One of these enhancements they were offering was insurance for pets. You could get a list with all the animals that were covered: cats, dogs, rats, snakes, and pot-bellied pigs.
I worked five years to get domestic partner benefits. Finally, a newspaper article appeared in our local paper highlighting that a handful of companies offered pet benefits, but not domestic partner benefits.
There was a newly formed council called the Inclusion Council and there were about 15 people in it, mostly directors and officers from various areas of the company. When one of my colleagues simply asked, "Hey, about the Inclusion Council, do you know if there is a gay representative on the council?" The head of diversity programs launched into a tirade.
In 2001, there was a shareholder resolution requesting that sexual orientation be added to the non-discrimination policy. The board recommended voting 'no'. That lit my fire. That's when I got in touch with the VP of Community Relations.