(Translated by Google) Fighting

(Original)
화이팅

Nice people

Nice view from the top

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman discriminated against me and in so doing managed to cause irreparable harm to my career. I was hired as a summer associate at Lavender Law, the LGBT legal conference. Unfortunately, the partners with whom I interviewed left the firm before I started working there. As it turned out, there weren’t any LGBT partners that were out of the closet when I arrived. It was obviously an issue for the firm because my mentors (2 out of the 3) also happened to be gay but closeted. Furthermore, the partner who was supposed to be my advocate when hiring took place was not even a part of the discussion; in order to have someone gay, I had been assigned a partner in the Tax Department which hires separately from the other lawyers in the firm. As a result, I was one of only two people who received a deferred employment offer. When presented with my offer, I was informed that the other student in our class that identified as Lesbian was not given an offer at all because her law school was not ranked highly enough. The fact that she was singled out amongst all the other members of the summer class is indicative unto itself. Afterall, my work life and sexual orientation do not have anything to do with one another.

I graduated from law school in 2009 and moved to San Francisco based solely on my offer of employment with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. Because I was deferred (without compensation), I was supposed to receive assistance securing a one year clerkship or other employment opportunity. This was never provided, and I struggled to pay for housing in San Francisco while looking for a job in a very difficult economic climate. I was unable to study for the Bar Exam and did not pass. Pillsbury rescinded their offer and refused to reconsider (even though it violated my employment contract). I was left penniless in a new town without any means of supporting myself. I had no where else to go and eventually ended up homeless.

I have since attempted to reach out to Pillsbury but all of my calls and emails have been ignored. With the help of family and friends, I moved out of San Francisco and am trying to restart my career. In July 2019, I was finally able to take the Bar Exam for the first time since Pillsbury rescinded. I am still trying to recover from this experience, and believe that Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman’s conduct was discriminatory and more importantly, unconscionable.