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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.
Replaced by someone less qualified
- Workplace Unfairness
- Male
- African-American
- Engineering
- Left & Joined Another Industry
- Arts/Entertainment/Media
- Discrimination
- Insensitivity
- Undervalued
My last encounter in corporate America-- the one that let me know without question that it was time for me to get out-- was when I was in charge of Quality Assurance (QA) for a software development company and they brought in a new QA Manager who knew nothing about QA. I was told to work cooperatively with this person and help in anyway possible (which really meant I was to teach him how to do the job he was replacing me for). At the same time, the CEO called me into his office and told me point blank my days were numbered and I should start looking for work. As soon as the new guy was "up to speed," he would have complete control over the job position and I would be of no more value to the company.