Browse Stories
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 Scapegoat Joke
- Workplace Unfairness
- Female
- African-American
- Heterosexual
- Law Firm
- Considering Leaving
- Commitment of Leadership
- Discrimination
- Inappropriate Comments
- Scapegoat
- Unbelievable
I was working as in-house counsel in a small investment company in which the President of the company also owned a small stock brokerage firm. Apparently, years before I was hired the President and his "business partner" used the broker-dealer subsidiary to artificially inflate the stock prices of companies in which they had invested. (Hiring in-house counsel was supposed to be the start of turning over a new leaf for the company . . . operating strictly within the clear areas and the 'gray areas' of securities laws.) The President eventually came to feel the "dark gray" areas were more profitable. When it became apparent federal agencies were once again investigating the company's activities, the President "joked" that, if ever questioned, everyone should tell the investigators that I had instructed them to do whatever they had done. According the the President, since I was "the only person without a family, no one will miss [me] if someone has to go to prison." I wasn't the only unmarried person in the company; however, I WAS the only person of color.