Lawyers Drugged at Bingham Events, Ex-Associate Says

Labor & Employment

Lawyers Drugged at Bingham Events, Ex-Associate Says

Posted May 8, 2008, 12:08 pm CDT
By Martha Neil

A former first-year associate at Bingham McCutchen complains that the law firm didn't do enough to investigate alleged druggings of attorneys by a former employee and/or attendee of firm events and keep its female attorneys safe.

In discrimination complaints filed with state and federal agencies, former associate Michelle Moor says that she was given a date-rape drug at a firm Christmas party last year and that another associate subsequently confided in her that she had been drugged and raped by a firm employee a year or so earlier after another social occasion involving Bingham workers, according to the Boston Globe and Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. The other associate allegedly reported the date-rape incident to police, but didn't tell the firm because she was afraid it would adversely affect her promotion chances there, the Globe says.

Moor says she sought emergency room treatment after she began feeling dazed and disoriented at the Christmas party, which was held at a restaurant, although she remembers having only two glasses of wine. She was told at the hospital that her blood contained Tegretol, an antiseizure medication. When mixed with alcohol, it can cause memory loss.

Moor also contends that an employee told her, at a January dinner of this year attended by several other law firm employees, that he enjoyed having sex with unconscious women and knew how to get a date-rape drug. Because he worked in close proximity to her office, she didn't feel safe at work thereafter, she contends, and, although Bingham McCutchen offered to move her to another floor, this would have created problems for her by distancing her from her practice group. The employee who allegedly made these comments has not worked for the firm since February.

As a result of this situation, Moor says, she accepted a job in February, despite "substantial economic consequences," as a litigator at Kotin, Crabtree & Strong in Boston.

Bingham McCutchen says in a written statement that it took Moor's allegations "extremely seriously," fully investigated them and provided personal safety training to its employees in response. It was, however, unable to confirm that an employee gave her a date-rape drug.

Moor, however, contends that more should have been done. She filed against the firm "in the hope it will encourage Bingham McCutchen to respond to and address some pretty serious workplace problems," says her lawyer, Rachel Stroup, who practices in Boston at Zalkind, Rodriguez, Lunt & Duncan.

Her complaints were filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

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Posted by B Dweck - 2 days, 12 hours, 48 minutes ago

The law profesion has reached new lows when lawyers have drug female lawyers for purposes of date rape. This is a disbarrable offense. Lawyers should uphold the law, not violate it, and they should not have to drug women lawyers for purposes of sex. This sounds sleazy enough for an episode of Boston Legal.
Posted by 6star - 2 days, 10 hours, 49 minutes ago

a couple of punches to the face and a kick or two to the groin would have cured this sob
Posted by Ellen Barshevsky - 2 days, 10 hours, 49 minutes ago

Agreed. Women lawyers have long been marginalized and now are being used for sexual encounters by drunken male lawyers. This must stop.
Posted by KP - 2 days, 10 hours, 14 minutes ago

There’s nothing in the article to suggest that the perpetrator was a lawyer.
Posted by Astounded - 2 days, 10 hours, 5 minutes ago

Absolutely unbelievable.

I know there are some real scum out there. I even know that some of them are lawyers. But it is hard for me to understand how anyone can do this to another person--especially someone educated.

I do not want to get graphic or personal here, but I also can’t figure out what the turn-on is for someone to have intercourse with a drugged/drunk/unconscious person.

In my opinion, when you look at the facts together (an educated person drugging and perhaps raping lawyers and TALKING about it), you have a real sicko who should either be put away or put down.
Posted by Hadley V. Baxendale - 2 days, 10 hours, 3 minutes ago

Ellen. This article does not show that women “now are being used for sexual encounters by drunken male lawyers.” It shows that there can be creeps in the workplace, any workplace. It looks like she complained to management in January and the guy (an “employee") was gone in February. The marginalization of women in our profession is a serious issue and your concern and, I assume, efforts are to be continued, but don’t hurt your cause with silly statements like that. Instead of support, all you’ll get is eye-rolling.
Posted by mike rotch - 2 days, 9 hours, 21 minutes ago

Ellen, what if it was a female associate that did it to her?

If a male made generalizations about female workers like those in your comments, I have a feeling you would be one of the first people to post comments about how he is a pig, etc etc.
Posted by Sierra V. Costle - 2 days, 7 hours, 58 minutes ago

So the attorney was at a Bingham function prior to her medical evaluation that detected the date rape drug. How did she ingest the drug? The only thing conecting the presence of the drug in her system with the individual complained of is hearsay (no, make that double-hearsay), that reflects on the individual’s character, not the specific night in question (objection, relevance).

It seems to me that under the circumstances Bingham’s response is very conservative and erring on the safety of its employees.
Posted by wow - 2 days, 7 hours, 4 minutes ago

I’m really glad Bingham didn’t accept me into their summer associate program. This is bad PR.
Posted by Li Yuan - 2 days, 5 hours, 57 minutes ago

I think men must stop forcing sex on woman. Woman attorney should not drink with man who wants sex with her. Law firm does good to get rid of sex feend. I think working for law firm no good if sex encouraged at work.
Posted by KBE - 1 day, 22 hours, 19 minutes ago

I know nothing more about this situation than what was in the article, but if I heard this story from someone sitting on the other side of my desk, I would certainly inquire more about this person who allegedly told her he liked having sex with unconscious women and knew where to get date-rape drugs.

I mean, who would say something like that? My guess is that if someone, especially if he/she was a lawyer, was the type of person who would use a date rape drug to attempt to have sex with unconscious women, that he/she wouldn’t be dumb enough to go around bragging about it. I’ve dealt with some dumb criminals, but don’t think one has committed such a serious crime and been so nonchalant about offering up the fact that he/she enjoys committing that crime to an acquiantance at a dinner party.

Not that it didn’t happen that way, but it just seems like something I’d want to know more about. The article leaves quite a bit to be desired on that.

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