DirtyLAWndry reader - “Fey” - just sent this interesting tidbit about her former boss:

“I used to be a contract attorney at Dechert until 2009 when I was laid off. I worked under a senior staff attorney for almost ten years doing mostly document review and a few other projects. I thought my work was good as I always received glowing reviews from my boss. Whenever she had side projects that needed attention, I would do that work for her. I should mention that I am an older adult and I was doing contract work to supplement my income. In terms of practical legal experience, I have more experience than this senior staff attorney and she would sometimes ask me to do things that she herself did not understand. So, I thought I was a valued employee even though I didn’t work directly for the firm. There were times when the firm was recruiting for a staff attorney position and I noticed she would try to talk me out of taking the position. I had no interest in taking the position, but she didn’t know that. I think she felt threatened because some of the partners were starting to take note of my work. I also knew many of the associates from my younger days when I used to practice more.

Anyway, when I got laid off, I went searching for another document review position. I was interviewed and was pretty much guaranteed the position. All I needed was employment verification. Now, this wasn’t the usual employment verification form. This form had requests for information that only someone who worked with me could provide. So, my temp agency filled out what they could and sent the form to my boss for her input. Well, she ignored the form. I had also listed her as a professional reference because working at Dechert all that time was my sole means of income. One day, I received a phone call from the company I wanted to work for saying that they needed an additional reference because my boss wouldn’t agree to be a reference or even verify that I worked as a temp at Dechert.

What’s crazy to me is that my boss did say that I could use her as a reference. So, I thought surely there must be some mistake. I really needed this job so I called other contract workers that worked with me and apparently she did the same thing to them stating that it was policy. Well, I had also called another senior staff attorney hoping that he would remember me from working on those side projects with the both of them over the years. He returned my call, and after explaining the situation to him, he contacted the company on my behalf and I was able to get the job. So, I guess it wasn’t a policy issue after all. It was just that senior staff attorney trying to kick us contract attorneys while we’re already down.

To make matters worse, I just found out that my boss was put in charge of rehiring for the project we all worked on. I noticed that she didn’t rehire anyone with more experience than her nor any minorities (women, black or dark-skinned Indians, Americans, Hispanics, or Asians). So, if you were white, male, and just out of law school, you were rehired. But, if you were white, male, and she felt threatened that you may have an actual shot at becoming a full-time employee then you weren’t even on her radar. Needless to say, she hasn’t contacted me regarding my former position, which paid more than my current gig.”

* * * * * * * * * *

If you have a story you’d like to share with DirtyLAWndry, please email it to blog@dirtyLAWndry.com with “Reader Submission” in the subject field.

Also, if you’re a solo practitioner or entrepreneur, I’d love to feature you on the Entrepreneur page (http://entrepreneurs.dirtylawndry.com/) of this site. For more information about this opportunity, please visit the Entrepreneur page.