Bingham Hit With Suit Over Alleged Holiday-Party Drugging

[WSJ Law Blog]

A strange and frightening little tale from Boston hit our inboxes not a few minutes ago. According to this Boston Globe story, Michelle Moor, a former associate at Bingham McCutchen has filed a discrimination complaint against the Boston law firm, claiming it failed to promptly investigate her allegation that she had been drugged at a firm holiday party.

The complaint, filed yesterday at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, also reportedly alleges a Bingham employee remarked at a firm dinner that he enjoyed giving women date-rape drugs and having sex with them, and that Bingham failed to adequately investigate those comments.

In a statement, according to the Globe, Bingham said it took the associate’s allegations “extremely seriously” and conducted an “appropriate and thorough investigation,” but was unable to confirm whether the person who gave her the drug was associated with the firm. The firm also said it is providing personal safety training to its employees in response to the associate’s concerns.

The associate who filed the complaint reportedly left Bingham in February and is now an associate another Boston firm. She did not return a call for comment to the Globe. But her Boston lawyer, Rachel Stroup, said her client filed the complaint “in the hope it will encourage Bingham McCutchen to respond to and address some pretty serious workplace problems.”

Update: A few minutes ago, a firm spokeswoman sent along the following statement, from which we’ve excerpted below:

We took Ms. Moor’s report extremely seriously and were disappointed that she had decided to resign from the firm. . . . Ordinarily we do not comment further in connection with on-going disputes. Here, because issues of personal safety are implicated, we comment further to address only that matter. . . . The firm believes that at all times it acted diligently, responsibly and fairly in connection with information it received, including gathering relevant facts and conducting an appropriate and thorough investigation. . . . In connection with its investigation, the firm was unable to determine who had done this or whether the source of the drug was associated with the firm in any way. However, in response to the concerns raised by Ms. Moor, and in collaboration with a safety expert, we have developed and are providing personal-safety training to equip our people with practical, safety-related advice in their professional and personal lives. . . .