Sep. 13, 2014

Sedgwick honors diversity, inclusion at annual event

From left, James J.S. Holmes, a partner and event chair for Sedgwick LLP, Therese M. Stewart, chief deputy city attorney at the San Francisco city attorney's office, and Tanya M. Lawson, a partner and co-chair of Sedgwick's diversity and inclusion committee, gathered in San Francisco for the firm's annual diversity and inclusion event Tuesday night. Stewart was appointed to the California Court of Appeal by Gov. Jerry Brown in June, making her the first out lesbian to earn that honor. Stewart discussed gender roles in society, particularly in relation to the pro-Proposition 8 commercials that were presented as evidence and discussed in front of the U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments over California's same-sex marriage ban. She said the ads displayed inherent gender bias, including arguments that a boy raised by two women wouldn't know "how to step up and be a leader." "I guess girls don't need to know how to step up and be a leader," Stewart quipped. — Joshua Sebold