She was harassed at a tech conference. Now other women are sharing #MeToo moments
Stefanie Bier was looking forward to catching up with friends working in legal technology when she headed to dinner near the glitzy Legalweek conference in New York City in late January. But by the end of the night, her group was reporting an alarming incident that sent shock waves through their industry.
Bier, 37, is director of security platform experience at Microsoft and has worked in legal tech for her entire professional career. She is a veteran attendee of such conferences.
This year, Bier and a small group of about 10, including two brothers who work in legal tech, Rachi Messing, 47, and Shimmy Messing, 42, grabbed dinner together on Jan. 31, during the weeklong conference. Then they hit up a bar called The Three Monkeys, not far from the Hilton conference hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
It was there that, as Bier's friend Rachi described it, "Everything was kind of going like normal. And then it wasn't."
Bier was standing at the bar when she was suddenly faced with a man who, she said, seemed very drunk — and intent on spending time with her.
"No, I'm not interested," Bier said she told the man repeatedly, as he ignored her replies.
Looking to help Bier, Shimmy stepped in and told the man, later identified as Robert Cruz, 52, that he should leave her alone.
At the time, Cruz was working for Reveal,"present at any Legalweek-sanctioned event."
