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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.
I've only shared this story one other time
- Workplace Unfairness
- Female
- African-American
- Insurance
- Left & is now a Small Business Entrepreneur
- Management Consulting
- Direct Report
- Inappropriate Comments
- Insubordination
I've only shared this story one other time. I work with a white woman, who is at the director level and reports to me. We have a congenial relationship and we would go out for drinks. I got tickets for game six of the World Series and I was going to be flown to the game in the company jet; the whole nine yards. I was so excited. I called her up to tell her: "Oh my god! This is happening! I'm so excited!" Later, when I went to her office, she said to me, in front of other people, "You BITCH! I can't believe you're going to the game." In contrast, my sister once called me a bitch in college, when we were roommates, and I stopped talking to her for six months. The woman thought that because we were informal and had drinks together, that she could call me a bitch. I'm your boss! The message she was giving to me was that she had permission to disrespect me.