February 14, 2020
To the Harvard Law Record editor:
HLS alum Olivia Warren recently testified about repeated instances of grotesque sexual harassment she experienced while clerking for Judge Stephen Reinhardt in 2017-2018. I clerked for Judge Reinhardt in 2000-2001. Because I have praised him as a judge in my classes, in conversations with students, and in a Harvard Law Review memorial issue following his death in 2018, I feel compelled to share my thoughts in the wake of Ms. Warren’s testimony with the HLS community.
I believe Ms. Warren and I admire her for coming forward. Her testimony strikes me as specific and credible. I was shocked by her testimony and I’m appalled that she had to endure this behavior. When I clerked for Judge Reinhardt 20 years ago, I remember him as having sexist assumptions about women (e.g., assuming women would not like sports, asking female clerks to make coffee). And he was not particularly sympathetic to sexual harassment claims, which was disappointing to me. But I don’tremember him commenting on the physical appearance or the sex life of his clerks or prospective clerks in the way that he did with Ms. Warren. I remember him as a difficult boss who could be demeaning and belittling to his clerks, but not, in my experience, in a sexualized way. Although what Ms. Warren describes is different from my experience, her description is also similar enough to the belittling behavior that I did see that it has the ring of truth to me.
Ms. Warren should be admired for having the courage to speak out. I hope all the other former Reinhardt clerks will embrace her for walking the talk of the progressive legal community.
Adriaan Lanni
Touroff-Glueck Professor of Law Harvard Law School