#MeToo Comes to CLOC, as Female In-House Leaders Share Their Stories of Workplace Sexism
On its opening day, the CLOC Institute featured a frank discussion between female in-house leaders about gender and the very real problems they've faced in their careers just because they are women.
April 23, 2018 at 12:26 PM
4 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Corporate Counsel
In an era of #MeToo and #TimesUp, it seems appropriate that the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium would choose to kick off its annual institute on Sunday with a frank discussion about gender inequity in the law.
CLOC founder and chief executive officer Connie Brenton of NetApp Inc. led a conversation with Santa Fe Group chief legal officer Janet McCarthy and Columbia Sportswear Co. vice president of legal Jennifer Warner about their experiences as women leaders in law.
“Each of us have a story,” McCarthy said. “[Mine] is characterized by some incredible men who sponsored me along my journey, and then some people along the way who tried to take me down a few notches.”
McCarthy told the audience that she took her first two general counsel roles, at Mitsui & Co Precious Metals Inc. and Metalor Technologies SA, because men at the companies reached out to her, saying she'd be perfect for the role. She says they were roles she hadn't even considered, and that she may have never applied if they hadn't put their faith in her.
But her climb to the top of the in-house world wasn't obstacle-free. After starting her first general counsel role, a male colleague told her that she couldn't properly do her job because she was a woman, and that her gender would intimidate men who might want to approach her with their legal problems.
When starting her second GC role, McCarthy was introduced to a company chairman who said, upon seeing her in-person, “Now I see why the CEO hired you.”
But McCarthy said her breaking point came during a negotiation years later, when opposing counsel called her aggressive, referred to her as a “girl” and then threatened her.
In all these cases of sexism, she said male colleagues were in the room, heard the remarks, and said nothing.
“We at CLOC are about change, and we need to start calling out this behavior,” McCarthy said.
Warner also spoke on her experiences, as someone who rose to her current top legal role through mostly male-dominated environments. She said that, like McCarthy, she's had male allies in the workplace but has also seen harmful stereotypes against women perpetuated by both men and women.
In her experience, female candidates may be judged harshly, with employers assuming they're planning to have a child soon or get married. Oftentimes, she added, these assumptions are far from the truth, and rob the candidate of a good job and the employer of the best person for the job.
“Ask yourself, what decision would I make if I hadn't made those assumptions?” Warner said.
She also recounted her own pay gap story. At a previous position, she had been making 25 percent less than her male counterparts for equal work—something she didn't find out until a new general counsel came to her company. He told her about the inequities in her salary and then raised her pay.
Small steps and calling out inequities when they appear, as her former GC did, is one way Warner said the legal profession can move closer toward greater fairness to women.
“This can feel overwhelming,” Warner said. “These are big sociological issues. You don't have to try to solve everything. Figure out what your piece is and try to do that.”
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllState Appellate Court Upholds $149M Punitive Damages Award Against Hyatt
4 minute readGreenberg Traurig Initiates String of Suits Following JPMorgan Chase's 'Infinite Money Glitch'
Repurchase Option in LLC Agreement Tied to Nondisparagement Provision Does Not Violate the Absolute Litigation Privilege
5 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Justices Will Weigh Constitutionality of Law Allowing Terror Victims to Sue PLO
- 2Nevada Supreme Court to Decide Fate of Groundbreaking Contingency Cap Ballot Measure
- 3OpenAI Tells Court It Will Seek to Consolidate Copyright Suits Under MDL
- 44th Circuit Allows State Felon Voting Ban Challenge to Go Forward
- 5Class Actions Claim Progressive Undervalues Totaled Cars
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250