Partner Track Unapologetically Tackles Workplace Sexism and Racism

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The following contains spoilers for Partner Track, now streaming on Netflix.

Partner Track is a legal romantic comedy on Netflix based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Helen Wan. Unlike most legal dramas, the series focuses on the career of a first-generation Korean American woman. As a result, it has dedicated itself to telling more diverse stories while also touching on topics of racism and sexism in the workplace.

Ingrid Yun (Arden Cho, best known for playing Kira Yukimura on MTV’s Teen Wolf) is an idealistic and resourceful merger and acquisitions (M&A) lawyer working towards making partner at a prestigious law firm. While the series is definitely a romantic drama, it also touches on the many challenges that Ingrid and her fellow co-workers face in this environment. From subtle sexism to white fragility, the series puts these issues front and center, demonstrating the trials that people of color and women face in this type of workplace. As an actress, Arden Cho has also faced strikingly similar circumstances to her character Ingrid as she chose to pass on Paramount+’s upcoming film revival of Teen Wolf due to pay inequality.

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Racism and Sexism in the Workplace

As a lawyer, Ingrid has an impressive work ethic and extensive knowledge of M&A. She works considerably more than her male co-workers, while staying on weekends and working over the holidays. She also has, on multiple occasions, saved the SunCorp and Min Enterprises deal, which was supposed to be her ticket to partner. Even though Ingrid has proved herself time and time again, she is not taken seriously. When dealing with clients and colleagues, she has to deal with subtle and inherent sexism by getting called “sweetheart” and being mistaken for a secretary. In these instances, Ingrid has to ignore these microaggressions if she doesn’t want to be branded as overly sensitive or ostracized by her coworkers.

Her co-worker and one of her best friends Tyler Robinson (Bradley Gibson), who works in the intellectual property department, is a Black gay man who faces his fair share of racism. When his colleague Dan Fallon (portrayed by Nolan Gerard Funk, who plays an excellent villain) makes some inappropriate comments, Tyler calls him out for his privileged and racist behavior. Dan overreacts, which leads Tyler to discuss white fragility, saying, “I am telling you, you are being offensive, and instead of respecting what I have to say, you are focused on how this is an interruption to the ivy filter in which you see yourself.” While this critique does hit the nail on the head, it did not result in the behavioral change that Tyler hoped for.

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The Consequences of Lacking Diversity

For Ingrid and Tyler, the white, male-dominated world in which they work influences how they are treated. Ingrid has given her life to make it this far, but in the finale, when it is time for the year-end announcements, she discovers she didn’t get the promotion. It dawns on her that she would never have made partner because, as Tyler put it, “the system was not made for us.” Ingrid quits her job and tries to make things right due to morally questionable decisions she made in an attempt to achieve her dreams. In the end, she realizes that compromising her beliefs and values ​​for her job was not worth it.

To undermine Tyler after calling him out, Dan did a racist stand-up routine resulting in an HR investigation. However, Dan was only reprimanded instead of being disciplined, leading Tyler to rage-quit. He only wanted to be treated with the same level of respect as his co-workers, but the firm was only interested in protecting its bottom line. In both instances, hard work did not equal recognition because the system they worked in did not recognize them. Partner Track makes the point of how workplace sexism and racism affect marginalized individuals who are just as talented but have to ignore this behavior and play the game, which is rigged against them if they want to make it in their profession.

Partner Track is available to stream on Netflix.

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