Tiffany Renee Thomas, senior counsel of employment law and benefits at Genentech, left, and Derrick Boston chief administrative officer and general counsel of Virgin Orbit, right, speak during the Building Career Agility fireside chat hosted by the California Minority Counsel Program on Wednesday, June 3, 2020.A group of black general counsel responded to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed by police in Minneapolis last week, by saying now is an important time to take a stand as leaders in their companies.
“It goes without saying that the recent murders of unarmed black people that we’ve seen on our social media feeds, the news and the weaponizing of police against black people are things that weigh heavy on our hearts and our minds,” said Tiffany Renee Thomas, senior counsel of employment law and benefits at Genentech Inc. in San Francisco, while moderating the group discussion via a webinar hosted by California Minority Counsel Program on Wednesday.
June Baldwin, senior vice president and general counsel of Public Media Group of Southern California in Los Angeles, said it is a time where the entire nation is raw. She said she was in close contact with her CEO and advised that it could be helpful to allow staff to use work time to listen to former president Barack Obama speak on police brutality.
“It can be challenging to bring your whole self to work. It is not easy to pretend it is business as usual,” Baldwin said. “This is an atrocity that shows America has never lived up to its promise.”
Connecting face-to-face through Zoom meetings have been helpful for Derrick Boston, the chief administrative officer and general counsel of Virgin Orbit in Los Angeles, and getting his employees to open up and share their feelings and grief.
“People have been quite willing to share their feelings and responses to what is going on,” Boston said.
He also emphasized the importance of having leadership take a stand on the issue of race.
“Probably the strongest statement came from Richard Branson, the owner of Virgin and Virgin Cos. He was very strong in making the statement that black lives matter and we have to address systemic racism,” Boston said.
The way Brandon Williams, general counsel and chief operating officer of World Group Inc. in Los Angeles, has handled the emotions surrounding Floyd’s death at the hands of the police by being as honest as he can with everyone he comes in contact with.
“I think as a black leader, no matter what company you work for, this is the moment when you do not hold back. You tell your truth, your whole truth and nothing but the truth,” Williams said.
He explained that he has had to reschedule certain calls because of how he is feeling and that business can be handled another day.
“I felt it was important enough because if I don’t take it seriously and if I am not the one who takes the leadership role by saying, ‘This matters to black people or this matters to black leaders,’ then no one else has to take it seriously,” Williams said.
“Most of the people in my company are people of color who have expressed their anger, concern and their need for change. Leadership within the company all have been looking for ways to respond to that in the appropriate way,” Lawrence Hinkle II, the chief operating officer and general counsel of UrbanFlixTV in Los Angeles, said.
Thomas said that every few months the black community is confronted with a similar news story and that black attorneys know that it is harder to achieve the top of their profession. Baldwin said she realized at an early age that she had to work for her community at large and did not plan on becoming a general counsel.
“You don’t have the luxury of living through yourself individually,” Baldwin said.
She explained that she was driven to use her job as a tool to tell stories for marginalized people.
“When I became general counsel, it allowed me to be a part of the senior team to influence directions we would take and to weigh in on how resources would be allocated,” Baldwin said.
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