Atlanta (July 2012) ─ Issues that members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community face in the workplace were the focus of a recent event for Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP attorneys and staff members. The firm’s Diversity Committee organized a discussion titled "Out & Equal: Achieving and Promoting a More Equitable Workplace for LGBT Employees."
Members of the business and legal communities shared their thoughts and experiences at the panel discussion and reception, which was held at the Atlanta Financial Center in Buckhead on June 27. The panelists included:
- Attorney Brian Basinger, a leader of the LGBT Affinity Group at King & Spalding, and immediate Past Chair of the Stonewall Bar Association
- Colin S. Wright of McKesson Corporation, who co-founded the Georgia Chapter of McKesson’s OPEN Employee Resource Group and organized the Georgia Tech Pride Alumni Group
- Dawn Buannic of Macy's Systems & Technology and Director, D2C
- Ruth Hollingsworth, President of the PRIDE Employee Resource Group at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
- D. Chip Newton, Former Chair of Deloitte GLOBE and Co-Chair of the Out & Equal Atlanta Leadership Council
- Doug Selph (Moderator) – Partner in Morris, Manning & Martin’s Commercial Finance, Real Estate Development and Finance and Real Estate Capital Markets practices, and member of the Stonewall Bar Association
Topics included creating an equitable workplace environment, dealing with bullying and discrimination, establishing LGBT employee resource groups, and the mission of the Stonewall Bar Association.
The event also helped raise funds for The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, the world’s first foundation dedicated to raising awareness of the long-term, damaging effects of bullying.
About Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP
Morris, Manning & Martin (www.mmmlaw.com) is an AmLaw 200 law firm with national and international reach. We dedicate ourselves to the constant pursuit of our clients’ success. To provide our clients with optimal value, we combine market-leading legal services with a total understanding of their needs to maximize effectiveness, efficiency and opportunity. MMM enjoys national prominence for its real estate, litigation, technology, healthcare, intellectual property, capital markets, environmental, green industry, insurance, mergers & acquisitions and timberland & forest products practices. MMM has offices in Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham, Savannah, Taipei, Beijing and Washington, D.C. and an alliance with FGCN in São Paulo, Brazil.
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Media Contact: Terri Thornton, (404) 932-4347, Terri@TerriThornton.com