“I want us all to fulfill our greatest potential.  To find our calling, and summon the courage to live it.” Oprah. When most people think of Oprah, they think of her as an African-American talk show host, actress, producer, billionaire, and philanthropist.  What people don’t know is that she was born in rural Mississippi to […]

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 […]

On Saturday, The New York Times broke a story about sexual harassment at the prestigious Yale School of Medicine.  The information brought to light by NYT is shocking and troubling on two fronts. First is the nature of the allegations.  According to NYT, the former Head of Cardiology at YSOM inappropriately pursued a junior researcher […]

Most women—no, all women—have had the experience of receiving unsolicited feedback on their physical appearance. Such commentary comes in many forms, from lewd remarks or demands for a “smile” on the street, to irksome discussions with well-meaning relatives about how much “prettier” one might look with a different hairstyle.  Women have long fought against these […]

As I noted last week, it’s time for the tech industry to acknowledge its systemic bias against women.  Once that happens, the industry will be much more likely to do something about the problem.  Tech has proudly “disrupted” the status quo for how we buy books, make payments, hail cabs, use phones, play Scrabble, and […]

Women are underrepresented in tech. The numbers of women in technical jobs at major tech companies speak for themselves: Twitter: 10 percent; Yahoo!: 15 percent; Facebook: 15 percent; Google: 17 percent; Microsoft:17 percent; Apple: 20 percent; Pinterest: 21 percent; and eBay: 24 percent. The problem is also apparent in compensation – a recent study found that […]

Growing up I loved watching The Mary Tyler Moore Show on Nick-at-Nite.  Mary Richards, the show’s protagonist, was a single woman in her early 30s working as the associate producer of a nightly news show in Minneapolis in the early 1970s.  In one episode, she learns that she is making $50 less per week than […]

If there is a bright spot to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s comments concerning women and raises last week, it is that his remarks have (re)opened a robust discussion about the real challenges women face in tackling the wage gap. For those not up to speed, at a conference billed as the largest gathering of women […]

When we talk about the gender discrimination that our clients face in the workplace, we often talk in terms of leveling the playing field for women: We’re not asking employers to treat female employees better than they treat men, but we do demand – and the law requires – that they treat them equally. This […]

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 […]