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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 lost out because of my race
- Workplace Unfairness
- Female
- Arab/Arab-American
- Architectural Services
- Left & is now Self-Employed
- Architectural Services
- Double Standards
- Promotion
- Stifled Growth
- Undervalued
In more than one workplace, I felt I was not rewarded for my achievements due to my heritage. Although, it is very subtle, I am very certain that it happened on two different occasions. A colleague supported me when I was not promoted and she remarked that it was probably due to my ethnic heritage because our boss was an ignorant bigot.