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.
Employee Turnover
I was with a male coworker whom I got along great with and we were both doing well. We knew we were both about to receive a $10,000 bonus for doing such a great job with a huge project.
I am currently thinking about leaving the company due the Chief Operations Officer, who happens to be the sister of the company owner.
Nepotism + authority = high employee turnover!
Another employer I worked for has a good old boys network. Women were often not invited to many social events, such as lunches or workouts or golf games or ski trips.
I would have stayed if I felt as though I was a valued employee and paid accordingly. The industry I left had a high turnover rate (the average person stayed 1-3 years) and to be successful, I believe it would take a restructuring of the management system.
I couldn't have stayed at the company and stayed in California. Every single person from my director to the VP was gone. Everyone who knew Donatella Ferrer and what I had done in 27 was gone. I stayed
