Robert Defilippis

Just say no I thought about quitting my first week, and I should have followed that instinct. One Legal has a culture of bullying, diminishing women, anti-team mentality, and fear. Lack of accountability from HR During my first month, I gave a presentation, and the 60+ year-old founder (then-CEO) was in the room and made an awkward comment to me about being pretty. To their credit, HR later called me in to check on me, but they also shared that he's made comments like that many times before -leaving me feeling like even if I pressed the issue it would not be resolved. At a holiday party, the founder then hit on me again. I came home confused, and my boyfriend pointed out there's a glassdoor review that literally warns women about the founder at social gatherings. When I came to HR, I was met with excuses and the protection of the senior staff. One Legal made me so uncomfortable in my own clothes that I completely changed my attire for three years. During my first week, someone in leadership told me that the all-male engineering team had a private Slack channel where they commented on what I wore every day. I worked at a top law firm before this; I know how to dress professionally. For three years, even the person in leadership would comment on what I was wearing when I walked into a room. It could be "harmless" comments like about a print or color, but it meant he was looking at me. One Legal's anti-team mentality left me sobbing in the bathroom on multiple occasions. I had an employee who would cuss and storm out of the room during team meetings. There was another employee who told me that his manager "made his life a living hell" for his first year. The team would also make disparaging comments about our international contractors. One time, after a particularly obstinant moment with an employee, I went home. My colleague told me that when he confronted this man about his behavior towards me, the man said he wasn't serious and that "he just liked to mess with me." I brought all of the above up to a new senior manager for the department. I did not see anything change. Near the end, things got pretty heated when a new c-level hire took over. In one year, I had six bosses. Only two of my bosses had prior related experience. One boss had never worked in tech before and could not describe how software development worked. The only qualified boss I had was a woman who was forced out by this new c-level hire. His tactic? Yell at her until she quit. That c-level member was so good at riling people up that I would often hear shouting matches going on. One time, I went to a new-hire dinner. While there, this c-level member interrogated one of my colleagues to the point that someone slammed a glass onto the table. It was so forceful that the glass smashed and broke everywhere. I was told HR tried to press this issue, but eventually left the company instead of fighting with the founder and CEO over the issue. I was routinely paid less than my male colleagues. I have an advanced degree from a top 5 school, prior product management experience, and also came from the industry. Not only was I paid below market, but I was also paid less than comparable men in the same position. My peer disclosed that his pay was more than $10K higher than mine. Another male peer was paid a "director" level salary and 0 years of experience in my field. One Legal invests in people that end up complicating its core business. It holds on to slackers and bad apples way too long (years). The now-CEO stays in his office and never talks to anyone outside of exec staff. I should know - I sat right next to his office for the last couple of months there. I now work in a place with super sharp co-workers that value kindness and teamwork, strategic planning, and clear leveling. It's given me the perspective to see this place as unfortunate and toxic.