Legal Ethics

Attorney Allegedly Gave Junior Employee X-Rated Tasks, Now Faces Disciplinary Hearing

The allegations that have come out during the hearing are shocking.

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Sexual harassment – dictionary definitionBritish attorney Oliver Edward Bretherton, formerly a director at Gowling WLG and now a partner at gunnercooke (though his bio link is suspiciously inactive), is facing allegations of sexual misconduct by three different women. At the disciplinary hearing at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, the conduct Bretherton is accused of engaging in while employed at Gowling WLG is shocking.

As reported by Law Gazette, the allegations of Person A, who was hired at 18 years old to a junior position in Bretherton’s department, include sexually graphic tasks “relating to [Bretherton’s] sexual gratification”:

Nimi Bruce, for the Solicitors Regulation Authority, alleged that Bretherton then gave the woman tasks ‘relating to his sexual gratification’, telling her he wanted to ‘f*** her and he would do it in the office and he didn’t care if there was a glass wall’.

Bretherton told the woman, referred to as Person A, that she should sleep with a man she was meeting for a date and send pictures of them having sex.

He allegedly asked her to masturbate in the office toilets and before bed every day and encouraged her to send messages which were ‘descriptive and explicit’. Bruce said the woman ‘found it funny’ at first but was increasingly uncomfortable with what was going on, particularly when he allegedly sent her a video of him masturbating, which she told him she had watched when she had not.

The complainant alleged that on another occasion Bretherton threw ping-pong balls down the front of her dress, and when he missed he would make her go back and pick them up.

The misconduct, which was alleged to occur over the course of a year, included a barrage of messages outside of work in which Bretherton tried to control the actions of Person A, including who she dated and asking her to describe the “kinkiest” thing she’d done. As Bruce described, Bretherton also tried to use his positions at the firm to suggest Person A was beholden to him, “[Bretherton] told her what to wear in the office and tried to influence her relationships and who she had sex with. He would time her toilet breaks… he would tell her she was so lucky [to have her job].”

His defense, as reported by the Daily Mail, was that Person A wanted it:

The pair allegedly kissed during a night out with work colleagues and Bretherton claims the 18-year-old instigated their relationship.

Chloe Carpenter, representing Bretherton, told her: ‘You were trying to turn a fantasy sexual relationship into a physical relationship.’

Ms Carpenter claimed Person A was happy with their relationship while it was ongoing and only changed her attitude afterwards.

Person B’s testified Bretherton called her “hot” and “competing to be a favourite blonde” and watched everything she did in the office, and “I felt I was being controlled.” Bretherton’s attorney refuted, saying, “He misjudged the situation in thinking you were happy discussing personal topics more than you were.”

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Person C has yet to provide testimony, however she’s expected to testify that Bretherton abused his position and acted in a sexualized manner.

Michael Luckman, general counsel at Gowling WLG, provided the following statement, “Our aim is always to provide a safe, inclusive and respectful working environment for everyone and while the SRA has not raised any issue of wrongdoing on the part of Gowling WLG, a former employee was referred to the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal.”

The hearing is ongoing.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.

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