A former associate at White & Case's Paris office is suing one of the firm's partners for harassment.

Under French law neither the associate nor the partner may currently be named. But it is claimed that the partner regularly made deeply inappropriate comments about her appearance and sex life (including publicly suggesting that she liked "big Blacks' big dicks" in her derrière, as she was dating a man of Caribbean descent). It is alleged that she became so depressed that her friends took it in turns to stay with her overnight so she wasn't on her own. It is also claimed that the firm has variously portrayed her as a nutjob, a nymphomaniac and "the worst worker in recent firm history" - despite promoting her and seconding her to a key client.

    How it might have looked - an artist's impression

A charge of sexual harassment has been thrown out, but a charge of moral harassment still stands with a hearing expected shortly. The partner admits using crude language (which is presumably the prerogative of all Parisians) but denies the charges and maintains that no harassment took place. His counsel pointed out that the public prosecutor had concluded on three separate occasions that the case should be dismissed.

A spokesman for the firm told RollOnFriday that "the complaint was originated a number of years ago and, following a thorough investigation by a French investigating judge, was dismissed in April 2013. The partner in question has appealed the recent decision to reopen the matter and that appeal will be heard promptly by the French Supreme Court. With the court appeal pending it would be inappropriate to comment further at this point."
 
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