Will is a partner at the firm. Alicia is a third-year associate. The two are carrying on a discreet affair. But, Diane, a senior partner, is on to them. Diane sets up a meeting with an insurance broker and makes the entire firm watch a video on sexual harassment as a subtle warning to Will and Alicia on the risks of interoffice sex.
Alicia eventually ends the affair and Will accepts. The message: having a relationship with a subordinate in the workplace, even if consensual, is risky business. Had the affair turned bitter, it could have been a costly lesson for the partner and the firm. In real life, law firms and sexual harassment suits are not uncommon. Recently, a law firm partner who had a fling with his paralegal saw his personal life dissected in front of a California jury.
The jury carefully combed over private text messages and instant messages exchanged between the two. The former law firm paralegal brought a sexual harassment and wrongful termination suit against her former boss. She claimed she felt pressured to have sex with her boss and was fired when she tried to end it.
The ex-boss said the sexual relationship was consensual and that he did not fire her but that she left the job after he criticized her job performance. He also claimed she started telling people he was a sexual predator. The partner was lucky and dodged a bullet. The workplace has replaced the singles bar and online matchmaking sites as the place for hookups.
The long hours, working with others close in age, and those with similar interests often make conditions ripe for potential romance to bloom. Some eight million Americans date their co-workers each year, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. And, half get married or remain in long-term relationships. Stephanie Losee, San Francisco-based co-author of Office Mate, helped pen a book about office romance. In her experience, she said she would not discourage consensual relationships among lawyers working in the same firm.
