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.
Insubordination
A white woman who I supervised clearly wanted my position. She made every attempt to undercut my authority.
Another employee who had had been with the company for 18 years applied for a different position within the company but didn't get it so she started working for me.
I have a pretty elaborate skill set in the high tech industry. My skill set is very diverse. My father had his own computer business. I was always involved in computers growing up. No matter how much I knew, I was NO'ed at the end.
I've only shared this story one other time. I work with a white woman, who is at the director level and reports to me. We have a congenial relationship and we would go out for drinks. I got tickets for game six of the World Series and I was going to be flown to the game in the company jet; the whole nine yards.
I worked my way through the company for 14 years. I did everything from testing devices to billion dollar sales. I did this for 13 years. In the 14th year, they brought in a sales person, who had no experience in testing or processing.
The worst job was at the hospital. There was a woman who was very difficult to work with. Like me, she was a doctor. But she had no office. I felt really bad for her. I had an office on my floor that was vacated so I offered it to her.
Shortly my colleague came on board, she came to me and said, "Salona, how would you feel about reporting in to me?" She had been at the institute for four years. I had been there 12. At that point I said, "I think our conversation is over." Over the weekend, I thought I was going to have a stroke, because I couldn't believe her audacity.
