"CBS has parted ways with top executives in its television station group amid an investigation into their conduct ... The executives, Television Stations Group President Peter Dunn and David Friend, its senior vice president of news, were suspended in January after a Los Angeles Times report on allegations the pair had fostered a hostile work environment." - Joe Flint, The Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2021.
The investigation, which is still not over, is being conducted by law firm Proskauer Rose. The CBS Entertainment Group Executive George Cheeks has not indicated what that review has revealed. But, what we do know is that the two executives have been terminated.
Those two terminations follow the steps taken by two BigFour accounting firms in the U.K. in response to the existence of a "toxic" workplace.
At Deloitte U.K., Dimple Agarwal stepped down from her leadership position in diversity. She is still employed at Deloitte U.K., though.
At KPMG U.K.'s chairman, Bill Michael resigned. However, that might not change much. Bloomberg Law observes that the culture of the BigFour is slow to remimagine itself.
And, therefore, despite the terminations and stepping-back at CBS, Deloitte U.K. and KPMG U.K., the leadership at BigLaw might not do much to change the culture. However, given the growing media attention to "hostile workplaces" and "toxic work environments," law firms might have to at least address the contentions that such exist.
Universally, a beef in BigLaw is about oppressive partners. Often, in the media that's referred to as "bullying." And, it's frequently documented with surveys.
Glassdoor, the platform for posting anonymous employee opinions and ratings, showcases those kinds of complaints.
For instance, for Jones Day, one employee comments, "Management is poor, they will make up things that you supposedly did wrong in order to prevent a salary raise, long hours, bizarre start-finish times with no flexibilty, management exhibits favoritism, have to work nights and weekends ..."
At Paul Weiss, here it is: "I was not motivated to work because I was yelled at and chastised for any mistake that I made. This is usually because upper management yells down the chain to the people they work under, and the cycle keeps going. That is how you learn at Paul Weiss (at least in my department). If you can drink the koolaid and fit in, it's great. You'll need to be intense and able to take criticism well. I don't think I was ever praised ..."
At Willkie Farr, the posting reads: "Some of the more powerful partners in Houston are very difficult to work for and it makes the entire office an unpleasant place to work."
And, at Boies Schiller, here you have the colorful observation: "I've worked here only a few months but this place is toxic. It's the Hunger Games in suits. There's a very prominent Bro culture that undermines the simplest of things."
Sure, BigLaw makes a lot of money for the folks working in it. But so does BigFour Accounting in the U.K. and CBS does in the U.S. Yet, Deloitte U.K., KPMG U.K. and CBS took high-profile steps to disclose unacceptable conditions and move to correct specific instances of it.
BigLaw might find pressure in the court of public opinion to make examples of partners who are perceived as creating a hostile place to work. To make not subject to lawsuits, they might have to hire another law firm to conduct the internal investigation.
Will that change the culture? It could be a start. Meanwhile, Millennial lawyers are introducing their own values to working in the legal sector. If there is no hope of alignment, talented associates know they can go elsewhere. Some have considered the timing right for going solo.
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