Sexual harassment in the law has long been an issue, but the recent LegalWeek conference has seen how the issue remains a major concern within the legal profession.
The ‘LegalTech’ conference was marred by multiple instances of harassment, highlighted in a LinkedIn post from Deloittes VP of global solutions which was posted at the beginning of February on the last day of the conference, as reported in GlobalLegalPost.
In the post, Deeanaa Fleener wrote:
A great Legalweek has been clouded by some unfortunate actions. I’m sharing some anonymous comments from women that were in attendance this week. In a group of 29 women, 20 had personal stories of inappropriate behavior at a conference. That is unacceptable and we have to do better.
“Last night, I was propositioned in the most graphic way I’ve ever heard. When I turned him down, he tried to convince me to leave with him by telling me his pregnant wife was on bedrest and I was doing her a favor.”
“A leader at a firm showed me a video of 2 girls under 20 in his bedroom naked and and invited me and the other woman I was with to join him.”
“A man just wouldn’t leave me alone even when others tried to intervene. He threw a drink at one of the men trying to help me at which time he was finally escorted out.”
A young sales person was grabbed under the skirt by a coworker.
A woman went to the bathroom and was pulled into the men’s room by a man who then wouldn’t let her leave.
“I was roofied by a bartender at a conference event.”
“I was followed onto the elevator by a coworker who tried to follow me to my room.”
There are so many more stories than this. We need to figure out a way to do better and be the amazing community I know that we are. To be clear, this is a few bad apples. The problem is when we let them get away with it. More to come on ways to address this…”
Fleener’s post attracted over 230 comments and has once again exacerbated the whole issue of sexual harassment in the workplace – or the conference space.
Reports indicate that there has been a noticeable rise in assertive behavior from men became evident alongside the increased presence of women at industry conferences.
Lawfuel reported last year on the sexual harassment issue involving a former senior manager at Gowling WLG and there have been multiple reports and issues about harassment of women in the law.
Kalina Leopold Oak, a member of Legal Tech Consultants, belongs to an informal network of women legaltech executives offering guidance and support to one another, especially those new to the sector. She finds encouragement in the response to Fleener’s post, despite the concerns and serious issues raised.
“There is no group of women I have ever been a part of – professional or otherwise – that does not have these stories,” she stated. “Many of us have encountered multiple instances of such distressing situations.”
