Paralegals & Legal Secretaries

Legal Assistant Alleges He's Victim of Sex Discrimination

By Lynne DeVenny

The Ultimate Memorial has published a very brief article about Texas legal assistant Donald Spencer?s recent lawsuit (Case No. 2010-83448), filed in Harris County District Court against his former employer, real estate law firm Ross, Banks, May, Cron & Cavin, and a collection agency, GC Services, but one allegation in particular caught my eye:

Spencer, a legal assistant, says that in July of 2009, he was discharged from his position because, among other things, he is a male in a profession dominated by females.

Spencer, who is representing himself, also alleges that his wages were illegally garnished and that his work product was sabotaged. Regardless of what the evidence shows happened during his employment with the firm, it seems pretty clear that Spencer and his former employer did not part ways amicably.

But it is true that the paralegal profession is dominated by women. Male legal staffers are increasing in number, although they are still very much a minority. I spoke at a lot of CLEs in 2010, and usually found myself counting the number of male attendees in the room. I rarely counted more than two or three. I often tracked them down to beg for a blog profile, not just because they represent a growing subgroup, but also because my male readers have told me they really like reading about other male paralegals.

But I wondered after reading this article, if even while their numbers are growing, do any of my male readers still feel discriminated against because of their sex?

Source: Ultimate Memorial

Full post as published by Practical Paralegalism on January 02, 2011 (boomark / email).