Shearman associate sacked after alleged sex harassment
Shearman & Sterling has sacked an associate after a vacation student claimed he sexually harassed her in a West End strip club.
Shearman & Sterling has sacked one of its associates after a vacation student claimed that he sexually harassed her after taking her to a West End strip club.
Shearmans has apologised to the student after conducting an internal investigation which resulted in the sacking of the associate, but the firm denies liability for the alleged harrassment.
In a letter to the vacation student dated 1 August, the firm wrote: “We apologise for the experience that you had at Shearman & Sterling and wish you well […]
“Although we accept that the conduct displayed by the associate in taking you to The Windmill Club was deeply inappropriate, it was not a Shearman & Sterling organised event and we therefore accept no liability for what may have occurred.”
The vacation student alleged that she was taken to a strip club on Friday 18 July by the Shearman associate after drinks in the Light Bar, Liverpool St, which is close to Shearman’s London office.
A spokesman for the firm confirmed that at least one partner was present at these drinks.
It is understood that at around 10pm, the group moved on to the Chinawhite club in Piccadilly, where a guest list reservation had been made.
However, the associate and the vacation student separated from the group and went to the Windmill strip club in Soho.
The vacation student claimed that she did not realise she was entering a strip club and that she told the associate that she should leave, but that he responded that he had already paid for the entrance fee and they should stay a while longer.
The firm confirmed that the associate paid for the entrance fee to the strip club on the firm’s credit card.
“This guy’s an associate and I’m an intern,” the vacation student told The Lawyer, “I didn’t want to p*ss him off.”
The associate is alleged to have begun making sexually suggestive remarks and to have touched her inappropriately.
The vacation student said that she left the club in tears and hired a taxi home shortly afterwards. She filed a complaint with Shearman’s HR department the week after, on 24 July, because she said that she wanted to finish the last week of her vacation placement before an internal investigation began.
A Shearman & Sterling statement said: “A student on our UK summer vacation scheme lodged a complaint regarding the conduct of one of the firm’s associates during an informal social evening outside the offices.
“Shearman & Sterling takes such matters very seriously and, following a full investigation in accordance with internal disciplinary procedures, the associate has now left the firm.”
The vacation student has accepted a training contract at another firm and is considering the options that are open to her in pursuing this matter.
The former associate could not be reached for comment.
View results 10 per page | 20 per page | 50 per page |
Readers' comments (88)
Andrew Haslam-Jones | 5-Aug-2008 11:01 am
Doing the right thing
The Summer Intern - Yes, she did the right thing. No matter how much naivety, alcohol, youth or inexperience may have contributed to what happened, none of those justifies the behaviour of the associate.
The Associate - No. Such apparently overbearing, leary behaviour puts the Bradley Chait e-mail saga of 2000 into some perspective.
S&S - No. The behaviour of the firm wrong and it has damaged itself in the process. It smacks of CYA and a complete abnegation of responsibility. It clearly believes it is on a mission to minimise damage to itself, both financially, by avoiding any claim by the summer intern, and reputationally, by distancing itself from the associate. However, the message it has just sent to all its employees and clients is "don't get into trouble because we won't think twice of dropping you like a hot brick."
The associate has a problem. The right response from the firm would have been to take responsibility for its employee and address that problem by, for example, insisting that he have counselling and, if the environment of the firm was one that propagated his unhealthy behaviour, assisting him in finding an alternative career.
Instead, the firm has thrown an already damaged individual out into society with no hope that he will not reoffend and it has washed its hands of him. That is wrong. Why are we happy to say "this is not the way the world should be" for the Associate's behaviour, but not for the firm's?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Annonymous | 5-Aug-2008 11:07 am
Bad Move
Any man who takes a woman to a strip club is hoping the woman will get the message he is too scared or not brave enough to tell her in the first place.
She was right to wait a week and after her vacation scheme to complain - she could not tell how the firm and or the associate's colleague will react to her. Personally, I dont think she is naive, I think she got offended with his terrible style and manner of approach.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
annoyed with pointless remarks | 5-Aug-2008 11:09 am
Who knows
No one can know exactly what went on here. Going to a strip club is not a crime. The only questions that really need be considered are whether the girl felt in some way compelled to attend due to the position of the associate and whether he did actually harass her.
For a woman to start talking about sleeze and strip clubs is wrong; for men to say clearly nothing happened is presumptuous. What is important is the facts. If there was no harassment and no sense that the girl felt compelled to attend, then nothing wrong has occurred.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 5-Aug-2008 11:41 am
Did nobody really notice?!?
The only thing that I really find interesting about this story: taking a woman to a strip club is about the most - how shall I put it? - "awkward" (primitive / desperate) way to make a hit on a woman!
I certainly do have sympathy for the internee. But imagine the miserable state of mind the associate must have been in! What a jerk! Didn't they teach him in Oxbridge?!
The kind of woman that would haven fallen for that kind of approach you could have had in the very same strip club for a couple of chips and w/o the hassle.
Poor fella, better go on making a career and leave the women to those of us who know how to. :-)
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Sidthesexist | 5-Aug-2008 12:05 pm
No training contract
So she waited until she knew she hadn't got a training contract to tell them? Would she have told them if she'd received an offer and had wanted to accept?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Nonny Muss | 5-Aug-2008 12:31 pm
shearmans idiot
Did this guy get sacked for going to a strip club? Or was it for using the credit card? Or for the inappropriate touching? Which was it?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 5-Aug-2008 12:35 pm
sex in the city
This has happened for years and years. Associates always hit on the vac scheme students and in my experience plenty of vac schemers like bagging associates. Not that this excuses this incident, but it's an extreme example of what goes on every summer.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 5-Aug-2008 12:58 pm
and....
if he did touch her inappropriately as suggested she should have gone to the Police. If he did not touch her it is harsh of S&S to sack him only for his poor judgment.
Retraining, guidance and support may have been more appropriate but I hear times are heard down there... saves on the redundancy I suppose.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Matthew Connacher | 5-Aug-2008 1:21 pm
What goes around comes around
...from sleazy strip clubs to the disregard of Tibet's sovereignty, when will China realise this is the 21st century and such blatant abuse of human rights will not be tolerated?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anon. | 5-Aug-2008 1:24 pm
Re last post
Matthew, what's the relevance of China here? Isn't this about an American firm, in Britain?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment