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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.
The day after I gave notice, the stock market crashed
- Workplace Unfairness
- Female
- Caucasian
- Computers, Software
- Left & is now Self-Employed
- Management Consulting
- Company Response
- Coworker
- Economic Downturn
- Fed Up
- Good Boss
There were a lot of men of color who were fabulous. I told them that I wanted to start my own company. The day after I gave notice, the stock market crashed. So one man of color called me in and said, "I don't want to know your personal situation but it may not be the best time to go out on your own. The stock market just crashed. I can see what I can do for you to stay." I said, "I really appreciate this, but here's why I'm afraid of that: I'm going to get so comfortable that its going to get harder and harder to leave." I knew I could be really better on my own.