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.
Company Response
I would've had some real recourse to report what was going on and wouldn't have had to fear for my job.
I would want my boss to be confronted and to speak to me in a mature and professional manner. I would also want human resources to take care of the situation.
My coworker was terminated.
I would not recommend the company. I would have stayed if they had offered me a job.
When I was hired as a full-time employee at Kaiser Permanente, I found my new manager hated the manager I had worked for previously as a contractor, and she constantly tried to use me against her and trying to get me to speak "dirt" about her (using leading questions and even very subtle threats, like putting off my training schedule as long as I wasn't cooperating).
I was working for a small New York law firm specializing in insurance defense, personal injury and subrogation.
I was an executive consultant for a company in California. I worked for them previously and brought in great accounts for them. When they re-hired me they offered me a lesser compensation plan than the new hires who were white men with no experience.
I was at the top of my game: included in the top performers bracket, eligible for bonuses reserved only for top performers; traveled all over the world conducting negotiations and evaluating businesses for the company.
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.
When I first got the job, I was filling out the forms. I was like, what should I do? Being Middle-Eastern, technically, I'm white. Being Egyptian and Egypt is in Africa, do I choose African-American? I was being friendly to the HR person so I asked what I should do. She said, could you pick the minority? I said, yeah, sure. I am an African, I am a minority. Why not pick African-American?
