Park Avenue lawyer James R. Ray, 50, is the subject of a bizarre allegation that he pressured his female paralegal to be his “third wife.” Sarbrina Rafi, 27, make the allegation in a sexual harassment complaint in which she says that Ray boasts of multiple wives and referred to her ethnic background in making her ideal for his third spouse. As lead counsel in the Sister Wives case, I am not sure of how Park Avenue Polygamy works, but this (if true) sounds more like simple sexual harassment than a consensual plural relationship.
The complaint also details a bizarre dinner at a Korean restaurant where Rafi says Ray pressured her to accept his proposal and even insisted that she feed him with chopsticks.
Rafi recently graduated law school and took a job as a paralegal.
Her complaint details how Ray allegedly bragged about being “married to multiple women” and the value of the “polygamist lifestyle.” It also alleges that a female co-worker was fired for refusing to discuss sex and polygamy. Rafi further says that he pushed her to discuss lesbian porn and added “It was humiliating for me to sit there with this much older man forcing me to feed him his food.”
He eventually fired Rafi.
Ray is described on his firm’s website:
The firm’s founder, James Ray, Esq., has extensive experience in media and entertainment, negotiating contracts for film directors and producers, as well as musical artists.
As a former boxing promoter, restaurant owner, and college professor, Mr. Ray brings considerable knowledge and perspective to each case or transaction he gets involved in. Mr. Ray is currently writing a book entitled Entrepreneurship: Paradigm for Success.
I assume that allegedly pressuring women into polygamous relationships is not part of that “paradigm of success.” It will be interesting to see how the bar reacts to the lawsuit and whether it will open an investigation into allegations that are incompatible with being a licensed attorney. Generally such sexual harassment cases are treated as private claims. However, in this case there is an alleged pattern of the mistreatment of female employees.
The fact is that such conduct, if true, has little to do with polygamy — any more than the many adulterers undermine monogamy as an institution. These allegations suggest someone who is clearly unable to maintain a monogamous relationship and someone who is unable to maintain a professional relationship with women.
Source: NY Post
mespo:
you are such a romantic!
In a perfect world, he’d meet his third “wife” in prison .. say, in an adjoining cell.
Cameron, “I do admire women like this because I have seen too many of them take so much crap from certain men in the work place for far too long. It still goes on and is more prevalent than you would think.”
Right you are.
Just another member of the legal profession who thinks he is so superior to everyone else and considers he is sitting at the top of the food chain that he can do what he likes.
It is hard to believe that ogres like this continue to operate as they do in society in this century. But unfortunately they do and corporate life is still scattered with these slime balls who think it is perfectly fine to subject women to all kinds of harrassment because more often than not they get away with it. Like this guy allegedlly did – until one day a tough lady decides to stand up to them and really takes on the ogres, like this piece of trash.
I hope she makes his life a misery for a while and hopefully he will lose some clients over this episode with his alleged strange/unacceptable behaviour being exposed.
I do admire women like this because I have seen too many of them take so much crap from certain men in the work place for far too long. It still goes on and is more prevalent than you would think.
some people have a penis. some people are one.
She actually fed him in a restaurant? Not cute, gross. Sexual harassment.
nick spinelli
1, April 15, 2013 at 10:51 am
I have many anecdotes.
—————————————————————————
Please come back later this evening and share. In the words of Alice Roosevelt Longworth … “If you haven’t got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me.” 😉
I agree with all the comments made about bar associations and their covert function in protecting the “profession” and “well-connected members”. Like your prior post today on “Apple”, bar associations are nothing more than a political body, protecting the profession’s self-interests, while promoting an image of “serving to protect the client in all of their rights” — as though their existence is a “warrantee from defect”. Legal consumers don’t find this out until it’s too late. The legal damages and concomitant ramifications have already taken place, leaving them no recourse but to acknowledge that “they had been taken”. How can this be changed?
Oh my…. And they say third times the charm….
Bar association grievance committees are in fact lawyer protection committees. As a member of the profession I have been ashamed to hear what goes on in these meetings. Clients are demeaned and lawyers who are obviously abusive and incompetent are allowed to rule the day, provided of course they know the right people.
As to a “consensual plural relationship”, if a women is brought up in a religion in which she is taught that god requires her to “consent” to a plural relationship, how is that really consensual? There should be no exemption for religious beliefs from generally applicable laws.
Having said that, I agree this seems to be a case of common sexual harassment.
However letting God be the judge is not religious. Seeing that Jesus was arrested by a person hired to work for them means to arrest is a religious act. That man if he indeed did wrong has one being to answer too. If he is without love the Light from God will be Hell to him. Arresting people will see the same thing.
I have many anecdotes.
Secretaries and paralegals are often preyed on in law firms. Attorneys have a very high % of pigs in their ranks who spend a lot of time trying to get females under their desk..and billing that time to some client.
…As a former boxing promoter, restaurant owner, college professor, and philanderer, Mr. Ray brings considerable knowledge and perspective to each case or transaction he gets involved in.
Saying I will fire you if you do not accept me is conditional love. That is not love. For his souls sake he better get love into him.
The profession would be a better off without this idiot.
I have no idea what to make of this.
Filing a bar complaint is mostly a waste of time.
The bar is better known as a lawyer protective association.
If your violations are so egregious that the bar can’t ignore them, or you are a notorious racist (Illinois law student), or a low life with few friends, then you risk sanctions; otherwise sleep easy.
If you have a complaint against an attorney, don’t bother filing a bar complaint. They will protect their own.
“… but this (if true) sounds more like simple sexual harassment than a consensual plural relationship.”
That is my read on it too.