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June 2, 2000/28 Iyar 5760, Vol. 52, No.39
Lawyer sues firm for harrassment
TOM TUGEND
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
LOS ANGELES - Kissandra Cohen had everything going for her. Possessing a sky-high IQ, Cohen had finished law school by the age of 20 and was heading toward an MBA degree.
But today, Cohen is out of a job, can't get a new one and has filed a voluminous lawsuit against the law firm made famous in the film "Erin Brockovich." In it, she details what she claims are incidents of anti-Jewish discrimination and sexual harassment.
Early last year, while still at Loyola Law School, Cohen was hired as a law clerk by the firm of Masry & Vititoe in Westlake Village, near Los Angeles. In September, while the results of her bar examination were still out, partner Edward Masry raised her salary to $120,000 a year and sweetened the pot with a "fully loaded" 1998 Ford Explorer, a top-of-the-line cell phone and other benefits.
Cohen's lawsuit, though laced with graphic language and descriptions of a workplace rampant with sexism, might have gone unnoticed by the media, but for the fact that the hit movie "Erin Brockovich" opened on the country's movie screens about the same time.
Cohen charges that during her 11 months at the law firm she was subject to constant groping, pinching, nuzzling, verbal innuendoes, obscene language and other forms of sexual harassment by Masry. Cohen cited more than 20 specific incidents.
In addition, Cohen filed charges of 10 counts of sexual harassment against two other lawyers in the firm.
Cohen's second set of charges deal with religious discrimination. She claims that at Masry's insistence, she was forced to attend a series of Friday evening sessions at the law office, despite her plea for a change of dates so that she could celebrate the Sabbath with her family.
Since her termination, Cohen has applied for positions at several other law firms, but has not been hired because, she says, Masry will not give her a letter of reference.
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