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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.
Please, Lay Me Off!
- Workplace Unfairness
- Female
- Caucasian
- Information Technology/Internet
- Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing
- Cultural Shift
- Flexibility
- Flextime
- Positive Experience
- Telecommuting
I worked at a tech publishing company when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was sick a lot and I got freaked out. I went to the president of the company and told him what was going on. He was so supportive and nice. He told me to work part-time, keep the benefits and take it easy. Unfortunately, when the company was acquired, the culture completely changed. For example, we weren't trusted to telecommute anymore and no weight was given to the fact that we had worked all night when we showed up at 11:00am the next morning. I ended up volunteering to get laid off because I hated the new company and my new boss so much.