The American Bar Association’s “Law Practice Today” said it succinctly in 2023: the “legal professional has a problem with gender.” Sex discrimination and sexual harassment are significant problems here in New York law firms, as well. As more women are entering the practice of law, more and more are encountering male-dominated places of employment that routinely trade in sexist stereotyping and vulgar harassment. If you have encountered such behaviors and this misconduct harmed your career, you can seek accountability through a civil action. An experienced New York sex discrimination lawyer can provide essential advice and representation as you undertake this important step.
This past March, a Long Island law firm and partner fired in May 2024 settled the attorney’s sex discrimination and hostile work environment case. The attorney’s allegations within her complaint -- which she advanced under Title VII, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law -- painted a stark picture of a woman in a “boys’ club” workplace that required her to navigate profoundly grotesque insinuations and “jokes,” misogynist stereotypes about women, and strong resistance to advancing the careers of the firm’s women employees.
The alleged victim, L.B., was a woman attorney with 15 years of experience when she took a position in early 2022 with a Nassau County-based firm. In October of that year, the attorney participated in the firm’s three-day golf outing in Maryland. The golf outing was allegedly the firm’s “primary networking event of the year,” complete with attendance by numerous clients, referral sources, and industry professionals.
Given that reality, the attorney proceeded to the event despite some alleged red flags. According to the attorney’s lawsuit, almost no female employees attended the outing, despite its networking value. The event also included a “tradition of dirty-joke telling” so ribald that the founding partner asked L.B. to sign a “waiver” before attending. (She declined and “hoped that the outing would remain professional.")
According to the woman’s complaint, her colleagues dashed those hopes on day two of the event. During an evening session, many male attorneys allegedly took turns telling vulgar and sexist jokes. The jokes revolved around sexual intercourse, other sex acts, impotence, and the size of women’s breasts.
‘Smile More,’ Don’t ‘Whine and Complain’
The attorney also allegedly experienced many of the stereotypical gendered criticisms that many women in the workplace encounter. When the attorney asked the managing partner how to grow her business and fast-track a promotion to equity partner, the partner allegedly told her she was too sensitive, too emotional, pushy, impatient, and whined too much. The co-chair of the labor and employment law group told the attorney that she should “smile more” because she was “prettier and easier to get along with when she smiled,” according to the lawsuit. Allegedly, when the attorney expressed offense at that suggestion, the chair told her to “lighten up.” When she advocated for the creation of a “Women’s Affinity Group” at the firm, the managing partner suggested that the group served only as a platform for women to get together to “whine and complain” about men or else “to play mahjong.”
During the 2023 golf event, the firm’s managing partner allegedly wondered aloud, in a loud voice and in front of a busload of firm employees, about the specifics of how L.B. engaged in fellatio. The attorney complained to the co-chair of the firm’s labor and employment law group, but, to her knowledge, no one took any corrective action, and no harassers experienced any adverse consequences.
The following May, the firm fired the attorney. The only explanation the attorney allegedly received was that both the firm and L.B. were “not happy.” Before the sudden firing, the attorney had received no negative performance reviews or adverse critiques of her job performance.
After the termination, a female equity partner at the firm allegedly told her that she “did not fit in the firm’s culture.” L.B. understood that to mean the firm fired her for complaining about sexist comments and harassment, as well as advocating for professional development for female members of the firm.
The details of the settlement were not made public.
Achieving success in the practice of law comes with many inherent challenges. Facing sexist stereotyping and crass sexualized “humor” should not be among them, but too often, they are. These behaviors may rise to the level of illegal discrimination or a hostile work environment, for which you may be entitled to compensation. The experienced New York City sex discrimination attorneys at Phillips & Associates PLLC can help. We are committed to assisting workers in all industries who this impermissible conduct has harmed to vindicate their rights and achieve a positive outcome. To learn more, please get in touch with us online or call (866) 229-9441 to schedule a free and confidential consultation today.