Are French Women Wary of Working With Dominique Strauss-Kahn? Not Necessarily

“Would women executives be willing to work with Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s new consulting company in Paris?” Bloomberg Businessweek wants to know. And while one female French executive said she wouldn’t want to work with him for obvious reasons, others want to make it clear that they’re totally not going get emotional about DSK’s (as he is apparently called in Paris, like a rapper) past, which includes numerous sexual assault charges both in France and in the United States.

“As a woman, I favor giving him a second chance,” said Carmen Kervella, founder of aHeadland, a brand-strategy firm in Paris. “His capabilities have never been in question. I see him working on large mergers-and-acquisitions advice or on relations between business and government.”

Nina Mitz, a senior managing director of public relations firm FTI Strategic Communications in Paris who was once a Strauss-Kahn spokeswoman, said “I think that businesswomen are capable of disregarding their personal feelings for the sake of their business endeavours.”

In case you’ve forgotten, Strauss-Kahn was forced to quit his job as head of the International Monetary Fund and lost a chance to be PRESIDENT OF FRANCE because of last year’s arrest and subsequent charges. His alleged actions massively fucked up all of his career plans and must have affected his coworkers as well. Even if you don’t think he’s guilty of rape or sexual assault — or don’t care if he is — wouldn’t you be a little bit dubious about working with him going forward?

And what about the men? Any men out there who would prefer not to work with an alleged rapist? Or is sexual assault a lady thing?

Women Divided Over Strauss-Kahn’s New Consulting Firm [Bloomberg Businessweek]