"Sexual harassment lawsuits may soon come from many more sources than just the alleged victims themselves. For Wall Street firms that have thousands of clients with the means to file those lawsuits, the dam could break any time."

Attorney and managing partner at The Colchester Group Jim Nuzzo says this case is an example of the "shifting ground" in sexual harassment lawsuits across the country. Nuzzo explains that the details of Tirschwell's personal interactions with Ravich are nothing new, but Ravich's use of investor funds means the "chances that multiple plaintiffs will join in this and other possible lawsuits against TCW are quite high."

Think about that for a moment. Tirschwell's case could successfully prove that Ravich and/or others at TCW misused their investors' money in the act of sexual harassment. It's not a stretch to argue that any use of investment firm assets by an alleged sexual harasser could then be used as grounds for shareholder lawsuits. Maybe those assets could even include a company paid-for car used to visit a victim's home, or a company-provided phone used to illicitly call or text a harassment victim.

The point is that sexual harassment lawsuits may soon come from many more sources than just the alleged victims themselves. For Wall Street firms that have thousands of clients with the means to file those lawsuits, the dam could break any time.

Wall Street has dealt with harassment and sexual misconduct waves in the past. Even some of the most astute Wall Street critics say the result is the very overt culture of harassment and blatantly hostile working environments for women are a thing of the past.