Question for L&O fans

I haven’t watched the series for ages, but I remember one episode that started with the woman (Olivia?) saying something to the effect that “No matter where you work or study, there’s always one asshole in particular who latches on to you and makes your life miserable.” One of her male colleagues replied with something like “Yeah, that’s called the [ … ] effect. It’s a recognized sociological phenomenon.”

Can anyone tell me what the effect is called?

Don’t know the answer, but it sounds like Munch saying it.

If it’s any help, the relevant episode was probably on about five years ago. No sooner, but not much later.