Covid and Biglaw Forum

[Anonymous User]

Appreciate all the advice.

[Anonymous User]

Resigning seems like a knee-jerk reaction that hurts nobody but yourself. However, why not just respond and tell them, "hey, I'm actually really sick with COVID and cannot produce good work product right now. I will need some time." You can push back... clearly you're not underworking with an annual pace you have and they are well aware of that.

[Res Ipsa Loquitter]

The majority of biglaw associates who catch COVID are in their 20s or early 30s and not actually too sick to work. Boss is assuming it's the same case for you. Speak up and say, no, you got unlucky with the severity of your disease and are genuinely too sick to work. Put that in writing and you will be left alone.

[Moneytrees]

I caught Covid recently through a work function, and I feel as sick with it as I have felt in about a decade. When I emailed my boss about it, his response was, paraphrasing, “toughen up” and I keep receiving work requests without niceties.

Putting aside all of the tactics, etc. to navigate this period, with which I am well versed, am I being over dramatic for wanting to resign over this alone? I’m a senior associate told I’m apparently held in high regard, with hours in the 2500-3000 range, and I can’t remember the last time I took a sick day off. It’s shocking to me that my group doesn’t even express perfunctory courtesies and give me a few days to rest and recover. Frankly, this seems like something a cold hearted boss may do to convince an unwanted employee to leave.

Or, am I being overly emotional about this (potentially colored by this illness), especially given the hardships Covid had placed on everyone including employers, and given my boss is absolutely slammed (and he’s normally a good guy), and should I extend a little grace here and not have such a big reaction?

I don't think you are being overly emotional, but ultimately resigning only hurts you. It's totally ok and, I would imagine, common to fantasize about rage quitting, but don't let these psycho partners and their demands force you into making decisions that are bad for you long-term.

[Bramwell]

Put a request for sick leave in writing. Most big law firms have an explicit sick leave policy, some even have a separate Covid policy and go get some rest.

[LBJ's Hair]

Or, am I being overly emotional about this (potentially colored by this illness), especially given the hardships Covid had placed on everyone including employers, and given my boss is absolutely slammed (and he’s normally a good guy), and should I extend a little grace here and not have such a big reaction?

I don't think you're being overly emotional, but it's possible your email read something like "FYI I have COVID," not "I have COVID and I feel the sickest I've felt in my entire life and I can't work"

if you wrote something like the former, your team might not even be aware that you feel particularly unwell.

example - one of my summer associates told me s/he had COVID, I told him/her immediately to take the week off, and s/he said s/he was bored b/c couldn't leave the apartment to do anything, so s/he'd rather have assignments and get to join team calls.

basically what I'm saying is - you need to tell your team what you want.

[nixy]

I don’t think this has anything to do with what your boss thinks of you as an employee or is a way to try to get you to leave. I agree that he may not realize you really feel terrible. And that may be because you didn’t quite make that clear, or it may be thar you did but he nonetheless thinks that Covid can’t possible really affect young otherwise healthy people in any significant way. If the latter, that’s pretty crappy, but about him, and not about what he thinks of you.