CLEVELAND — A viral text message is calling attention to what some are describing as a toxic culture within the legal profession, with women being the target of discrimination and harassment.

On Tuesday, Cleveland law firm Zashin & Rich fired attorney Jon Dileno after a former employee made public a message she received from Dileno when the female associate quit her job shortly after returning from maternity leave. 

In the text, Dileno accused the associate of collecting salary from the firm while sitting around on leave and called her a "soul-less and morally bankrupt person."

The exchange has raised questions about the treatment of women in the legal field, sparking discussions across social media platforms.

It's an issue that Renee Vining-Saks, an attorney who's never worked with Zashin & Rich but has worked in several other law firms, said goes far beyond this single incident. 

“As attorneys, we’re supposed to be the gold standard," she said. "We’re the guardians of the law.”

Vining-Saks said she was destined to become a lawyer. 

"I was one of those kids, those mouthy kids, whose parents told them for better or for worse, ‘You should be a lawyer,’” she said. 

When she started law school, she knew she'd found her place. 

"It was a perfect fit," she said. "I loved everything about it."

She wanted to make her mark in her dream field. 

"I had such high hopes for what I was going to do," Vining-Saks said. "And a very naive perspective on what I was up against."

She graduated in 2004 to jump into what she knew would be a demanding career. At the same time, she was going through a divorce with kids. 

"Of course I was a woman, but I was going to be no different than any man," she said. 

She's spent her entire career practicing law in Cleveland, working at a few different firms. She enjoys the challenges brought by each case. 

"Analyzing the facts and figuring out distinguishing characteristics either for or against," she said. "It can be very exhilarating."

But she never expected to face challenges from her co-workers. 

"I got pregnant, and shortly thereafter, I lost my job," Vining-Saks said. 

She fought back and filed an action against her former firm. The parties eventually reached a settlement following a years-long legal battle. 

"I'm just one of the few that's able to talk about it because I have my own practice," she said. "And I'm beholden to no one, and that's by design."

She said in most discrimination lawsuits, nondisclosure agreements are standard in settlements. 

"Which gags the victim from sharing her story," Vining-Saks said. "From sharing the things that happened to her, from even sharing that she is or was a victim."

She said that stops meaningful enforcement of anti-discrimination statutes. 

"Plaintiffs are gonna be hamstrung and repeat offenders are going to be empowered," she said. 

She said she's surprised at how the Zashin & Rich firm handled the situation with Dileno. 

“People were shocked that he wasn’t immediately fired," she said. "I was shocked that he was fired. Because in my experience, those type of men, they jettison up the ladder.”

She said she wished her profession policed itself better, and said real change won't happen until women can speak freely. 

"The price is too high right now," she said. "And we all know it."

She started the Saks Law Office in 2012 with the primary focus of employment law. Her husband, Jeffrey, joined the firm a few years later. 

"I will never be put in a postion again where I have to worry about standing up for what I believe in negatively impacting my career," she said. 

Now with a blended family of seven kids, she said her family is everything. She wants her daughters to have all the opportunities they should have. 

"I wish I could've told my former self when I was struggling that this would be at the end of the tunnel," she said. 

Stephen Zashin, co-managing partner for Zashin & Rich, released a statement Tuesday night stating that after "careful consideration, Jon Dileno is no longer with Zashin & Rich."

This follows an earlier statement that said, in part, that the single text message in question was sent during the "heat of the moment," and the firm is "taking corrective action and taking a purposeful look at our culture and what may need to change."

The Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association expressed their support for the woman who said she received the text, releasing a statement that said in part, "We condemn bias, both conscious and unconscious, and call on our entire legal community to affirmatively do the same."

The City of Cleveland confirmed Dileno performed work for the City of Cleveland and provided Spectrum News a statement, saying in part, "The City expects that its vendors act appropriately and have policies in place that are diverse, equitable, inclusive and fair."

The city said they discussed their concerns with Zashin & Rich, and the law firm assured them they'll take "appropriate administrative action."