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Posts by Katherine Kimpel

Kate Kimpel is the Senior Editor of Shattering the Ceiling and is also an accomplished civil rights lawyer. She represents women and people of color in discrimination cases (and other kinds of employment and civil rights matters).  When not lawyering, she likely is bragging about her hound dog Ulysses, inventing cocktails to serve at her next dinner party, or convincing her husband to watch reruns of a Joss Whedon television show (any of them will do). 

Lady Lawyer Lessons*: When the Misogynist Isn’t a Man

For some entries, Lady Lawyer Lessons will respond to questions from the readership.  Questions submitted will be presented in a way that protects the anonymity of the questioner to the extent possible. Q.  Hey Lady Lawyer!  I’m having some problems at work with one of my supervisors that feels a lot like gender discrimination.  My […]

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Lady Lawyer Lessons*: Taking a Stand

Lately, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about what it means to take a stand in the workplace.  Perhaps it was the hubbub around the threat to retaliate against Emma Watson that got me thinking about it.  Perhaps it was hearing my client Donna Kassman talk about why she chose to come forward and file […]

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Consequences for Speaking Up

The Internet was abuzz with news of Emma Watson’s speech at the United Nations—first, with chatter about her public stance on gender equality and then with threats of scandal and exposure in retaliation for her explicit embrace of “feminism.”  Watson, best known to much of the world as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies, […]

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Lady Lawyer Lessons*: Selling Yourself (in the good way)

In the early 1900s, a U.S. industrialist named Henry Kaiser was making money left and right and amassing an incredible amount of success and wealth while also securing a reputation as being relatively friendly to workers and labor interests.  One quote attributed to him is the comment, “when you’re work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt.” […]

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#ShameOnGawker: The bravery of Jezebel and the cowardice of Gawker Media

A few hours ago, the staff at Jezebel – a site that self-describes as being “a general interest women’s website” – banded together and posted an essay entitled “We have a rape gif problem and Gawker Media won’t do anything about it.”  As the essay explains: for months, an individual or individuals has been using […]

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Why #MightyKacy Matters to Working Women

If you haven’t seen it yet, you should.  I’m talking about a clip from American Ninja Warrior.  And this clip matters, not just to those of us who might treat shows like this as a guilty pleasure.  Because Kacy Catanzaro, and the incredible physical feat she accomplishes, matters. She’s tiny.  Physically tiny.  Five feet tall.  […]

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Lady Lawyer Lessons*: Recording Regrets

A performance review.  An unexpected meeting called by Human Resources.  A conversation where you’ll be requesting a raise or a promotion.  A discussion where you report a colleague who has been saying inappropriate things. It’s understandable why a smart employee – particularly in our technologically-dependent world – would think it was a great idea to […]

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Unprotected: A Quick Guide to Your (Lack Of) Rights

I didn’t plan our launch this way at all. Originally, I planned to talk about how today is the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of Title VII. I wanted to write about how incredibly important Title VII has been to this country. I wanted to write about what it meant to have laws on the […]

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