'He told me I should have gone along with it': lawyers share more stories of sexual harassment
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Lawyers have written to the ABC to share their own stories of sexual harassment at law firms in response to 7.30's story on the topic yesterday.
The story also prompted a response from the Law Council of Australia, which said it was working hard to address the endemic problem and would introduce a new set of national guidelines next year on unwanted sexual advances and bullying.
"Sexual harassment is one of the key reasons women are leaving the law and this needs to be addressed," Fiona McLeod, president-elect of the Law Council said.
According to the Law Council one in four women in the legal profession and one in 10 men have experienced sexual harassment.
"One incident is one too many ... The Law Council has zero tolerance for sexual harassment and refers any such matters to the appropriate authorities," Ms McLeod said.
Here are some of the messages 7.30 has received since the story aired.
'He asked how often I had sex and where'
"One of the partners [of the law firm] asked me at a partnership meeting in front of other partners how often I had sex and where. I left the partnership without any notice two weeks later. I went to lunch one day and just never walked back in the office."
'I never thought he would do something like this'
"I was sexually harassed by a well known managing principal (married!) of a law firm for a period of five months. We were in the office working late one night and I went to look at something on his screen he wanted to show me and I felt his hand rub my lower leg. He was sitting, I was standing leaning down looking at the screen. I instantly felt terrified and moved back away to the other side of the desk and sat down, not knowing what to do next as I really wanted to run, and then he leaned over and kissed me!
"This was a respectable, professional, well known in the industry man, I never thought he would do something like this or that something like that would happen to me. I always felt so sure of myself and in control but after that happened it completely changed me."
'She was fired'
"I worked in a top law firm. A female solicitor got very drunk, many male solicitors lined up to service her. She was fired, they weren't."
'He told me I should have gone along with it'
"One of my very first legal experiences was a mediation chaired by a retired judge. He propositioned me mid-mediation and when I reported the matter to my supervising partner he told me I should have gone along with it for strategic advantage. I was also excluded from working for a client as he was sexually harassing junior lawyers and my supervising partner said I wasn't allowed contact with that client as I would speak up against the harassment."
'We ensure no junior lawyer is left alone with him'
"I am a male lawyer and my male boss has been sexually harassing younger junior female lawyers since the day he arrived. He has been confronted at times but is always supported by the hierarchy. As far as I know it's never progressed to physical acts, but it's so creepy several lawyers have left because they felt so uncomfortable.
"His behaviour is common knowledge among all the legal and administrative staff but nothing is done about it. There's a culture of bullying and intimidation by this man which the upper echelon seems to tolerate. He targets attractive junior lawyers and exploits his power by offering continuing employment contracts so long as they don't complain. We have an informal system of ensuring no junior lawyer is left alone with him. We all hope he gets a promotion and moves on."
Topics: sexual-offences, law-crime-and-justice, australia
