Atty. Barbara Johnson Must Wait to Fight 'Gender Bias' Against Men

MassNews Staff
June 17, 2002

Atty. Barbara Johnson must wait in her attempt to fight "gender bias" against men in the Massachusetts courts.

Her trial last week was supposed to last five days with her client's ex-wife, Dori Gouin, beginning by calling 31 witnesses. But by Thursday, Dori had called only one witness, herself, and her own lawyer had not finished questioning her.

Therefore, Judge Lisa A. Robert has postponed the rest of the trial until mid-August. While the case has many facets, the most egregious is that Dori earned $160,000 as a lawyer during the marriage while the husband, Jake Gouin, stayed home and took care of the children.

After the divorce, Dori decided to quit her job, move out-of-state to Maine and take the children with her. Probate Judge Nancy Gould, who presided over the case last year, awarded custody to Dori. Not only did she award the children to the out-of-state mother, but she required Jake to pay child support to the mother.

The federal case that Atty. Johnson filed in federal court in Boston charges gender bias by Judge Gould. It is expected that that case will come for trial next spring.