Bakers' broom hits another office.
Baker McKenzie’s Belgium Managing Partner, Daniel Fesler, is leaving the firm following an investigation into claims of racism made by a former associate, RollOnFriday can reveal.
The firm said that it was rebuilding its management team in the wake of its findings, and indicated that it has also sanctioned other members of staff.
Kirsty Wilson, a member of Baker McKenzie's Executive Committee and its Global Inclusion, Diversity & Equity Committee Chair, told RollOnFriday, “We have completed a thorough review of the incidents and broader issues raised in our former colleague's email”.
“Where we were able to identify individuals responsible for specific incidents, appropriate action has been taken”.
Wilson confirmed that "a new management team will take our Belgium offices forward” and that “as part of this, we have agreed with Daniel Fesler that he will permanently step down from the role of Managing Partner and leave the Firm. We thank him for his service and commitment to clients over the past 30 years”.
Fesler had already temporarily stepped down from his leadership position pending the completion of the firm's investigation into claims of racism in its Brussels office.
The probe was triggered by a Baker McKenzie lawyer who dropped a bombshell when she quit, using her farewell email to lay out various incidents of racism which she alleged occurred during her time at the Brussels office.
In her email, headed “I am not leaving because of my kids :)”, the black associate stated that a “senior-someone asked me if the family picture hanging in my office was a rap album cover”.
Setting out "concrete examples" of the racism she said she had experienced, the lawyer recounted that "a colleague used the N word and was backed up by another colleagues [sic] who told me that 'he doesn't mean it in a bad way'".
The lawyer, whom RollOnFriday agreed not to name, described how a colleague “touched my hair (out of curiosity?)”, and said she was told that her Baker McKenzie e-mail address only included part of her last name “because it would otherwise be confusing for clients”.
The associate said she was also “yelled at by a staff member because I made comments to management about the fact that blackface had been used during a Sinterklass event”.
In addition to racism, the lawyer implied that she had been on the receiving end of regressive attitudes towards motherhood.
"A senior-someone asked if I was going to have a second child (which is something you never ask)", she wrote, adding that when she applied for a role in Dubai "I was asked how I would manage in my situation (this is the word that was used to describe the fact that I have kids)".
Wilson said, “We are incredibly sorry and sincerely regret that our former Belgium colleague, or any colleague, has had this experience”.
"We are absolutely committed to continue building a positive, respectful and truly inclusive culture in Belgium and across the Firm so that all of our people feel they belong”, she added.
Baker McKenzie’s drastic response mirrors its decision to clear out and completely rebuild its South Africa management after RollOnFriday uncovered an endemic bullying problem in the Johannesburg office.
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Comments
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Another example of a legal expert not having knowledge of the law and respect of colleagues. Gives the legal profession a bad name.
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Perhaps one should be careful to judge without knowing all the facts.
And perhaps a leader steps down by reason of indirect responsibility (and because such circumstances, unfortunately, always require a head to roll), rather than that this person has violated any rules of law or respect.
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Looking forward to reading this chap's farewell email.
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Suspect that in the longer term this is going to be a bit of a Go Woke Go Broke own goal by Bakers.
Not likely to win any instructions or deepen existing accounts by looking out for an associate who has already left and who (from the outside at least) looks like a bit of a drama enthusiast. But a partner with a network and a reputation like Fesler will pull instructions with him to whichever shop (discretely) welcomes him aboard next - and won't feel any remorse about it given the way he's been exited.
Can't help but think that a lower key regearing of culture without the press release, and a 'sideways' move to regional 'Senior Partner' for Msr Fessler would probably have achieved the same cultural outcome for everyone working in the office. But those DEI people just can't seem to sleep at night without dishing out a public shaming first.
Not fatal for a firm of Bakers' size, but a real and self-inflicted wound to its Belgian (and by that I mean Brussels) ambitions in the long term.
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Seems harsh for someone who s been committed to the firm for 30 years in a very humane manner.
Makes sence that a managing partner would take some responsibility but there are no indications that he is in anyway directly to blame (at least not from this article). Question is will they find a “better” replacement. Doubt!
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Seems harsh for someone who s been committed to the firm for 30 years in a very humane manner.
Makes sence that a managing partner would take some responsibility but there are no indications that he is in anyway directly to blame (at least not from this article). Question is will they find a “better” replacement. Doubt!
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?
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“Where we were able to identify individuals responsible for specific incidents, appropriate action has been taken”.
Seems pretty clear to me, right?
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@Anonymous 03 March 23 10:29
Guarded language such as "Where we were able to identify" rather suggests they did not identify much and did not care to look too hard either. Proper leadership would be to issue a crystal clear statement that all individuals have been identified and properly dealt with.
Hopefully I am pessimistic here, but if I am right, we will hear more about this firm later this year.
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There are training providers teaching organisations about The Equality Act 2010 which legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. Law firms take note. Clients will stop using law firms that break the law.
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"There are training providers teaching organisations about The Equality Act 2010 which legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society"
Is 'wider society' really so wide as to stretch all the way to Bruges?
Can't help but think that you might benefit from some cultural sensitivity training to help you remember that Belgium is no longer part of the Crown's dominions and has laws all of its own. Richard The Third having passed away some years ago.