Reports of sexual harassment abound during Legalweek tech conference

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Experiences of sexual harassment abound throughout Legalweek tech convention

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 6, 2024, 9:15 am CST

Experiences on social media about sexual harassment and assault in the course of the New York Legalweek know-how convention final week have led the occasion sponsor to difficulty a press release condemning the misbehavior.

Deeanna Fleener, vice chairman of resolution administration at Deloitte, is posting the studies from nameless ladies on LinkedIn, report Above the Regulation and the World Authorized Submit.

“In a bunch of 29 ladies, 20 had private tales of inappropriate habits at a convention,” Fleener wrote. “That’s unacceptable, and now we have to do higher.”

Occasion sponsor ALM, which publishes Regulation.com, mentioned the alleged harassment occurred off-site, and it wished to “reiterate our sturdy place that any such habits has zero place in any setting.”

Fleener posted allegations by ladies that included:

  • “Final night time, I used to be propositioned in essentially the most graphic approach I’ve ever heard. After I turned him down, he tried to persuade me to depart with him by telling me his pregnant spouse was on mattress relaxation, and I used to be doing her a favor.”

  • “A frontrunner at a agency confirmed me a video of [two] ladies underneath 20 in his bed room bare and … invited me and the opposite girl I used to be with to affix him.”

  • “A lady went to the toilet and was pulled into the boys’s room by a person who then wouldn’t let her depart.”

Right here is the complete ALM assertion: “ALM has been made conscious of studies of occurrences of extremely inappropriate habits, together with harassment and assault, occurring at unaffiliated venues in New York Metropolis in the course of the week of its Legalweek occasion. We first need to vehemently condemn all such actions and reiterate our sturdy place that any such habits has zero place in any setting. Whereas these acts didn’t happen on-site at Legalweek or at any conference-sponsored occasions, ALM prides itself on the group connections it creates and is dedicated to partnering with different key stakeholders to stop harassment of any trade member.

“Our long-standing occasions coverage offers that ALM is devoted to offering a respectful convention expertise for everybody and harassment of any type is not going to be tolerated. We’ll proceed to work internally and with exterior stakeholders locally to find out how we are able to greatest champion significant, constructive change for the authorized group and handle the bigger drawback within the trade.”

Commenting on the assertion, Above the Regulation mentioned it “hits all the precise notes,” however the issue is extra widespread.

“Allegations of all kinds of comparable terrible habits have permeated each a part of the authorized trade: academia, the judiciary, legislation companies, authorities, politics,” Above the Regulation wrote. “It’s the trade that should reply, not simply ALM.”