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Wild A&O associate sacked for erotic novel

A former associate at Allen & Overy who has published an online erotic normal claims her boss was "sexually obsessed" after the two allegedly shared a moment on a couch.According to The…

May 21, 2010 By Lawyers Weekly
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A former associate at Allen & Overy who has published an online erotic normal claims her boss was "sexually obsessed" after the two allegedly shared a moment on a couch.

According to The Lawyer, Deidre Dare was sacked after she refused to stop publishing an online erotic novel and now she is claiming a massive £3.4 million ($5.9 million) in compensation over allegations of unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination.

The basis of her sizeable claim is that her boss - the managing partner of the A&O Moscow office Tony Humphrey - had developed a "sexual obsession" with her.

Dare claimed that she "made out one drunken evening" with her boyfriend on a colleague's couch. "Many witnesses were present. This was a heavy make out session and included tongues, hands on genitalia etc," she explained.

She alleged that afterwards she was given an employment review by Humphrey and that he accused her of being "too wild" and "not committed enough" to her boyfriend.

As a result, Dare claimed she was fired after Humphrey became "crazy with jealousy" following her involvement with another man.

According to The Lawyer, Dare filed a formal grievance for sexual harassment and was dismissed without notice after she refused to take down her online book Expat: A Weekly Serialised Novel About Living in Moscow which Dare said had been online for months already.

"I believed I had every right to continue to write...in my personal time...This is gagging the entire profession and basically saying that we're not allowed to be creative in our spare time," Dare argued.

Needless to say, Allen & Overy have confirmed with The Lawyer that they will be defending the claim "vigorously".

Folklaw can only hope that lawyers in the Russian office of Allen & Overy get a transfer to Sydney.

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