Sexual harassment was not considered a legal offense until 1977, when a woman brought her boss to co

Sexual harassment was not considered a legal offense until 1977, when a woman brought her boss to court after he fired her after she refused his sexual advances. The court stated that her termination violated the 1974 Civil Rights Act, which made employment discrimination illegal. ⚖️ Despite this, the Supreme Court still did not hold companies financially liable for sexual harassment until over 10 years later, in 1988. That SCOTUS decision opened the door for others, like Lois Jenson, who sued her employer, a mining company. ⛏ Along with other women in the mine ‍ Lois had been groped, crudely propositioned, confronted with pornography, and was physically attacked by male miner. The mine’s managers refused to act on her complaints, saying, in effect, that “boys will be boys.” After a court battle lasting more than a decade, the mine settled with Jensen and 14 other plaintiffs for $3.6 million. The outcome put employers on notice that they had to take harassment complaints seriously. ✨✊️By 1998, the Supreme Court ruled that employers could be financially liable for an employee’s sexual harassment, even if the employer was unaware of it and had anti-harassment policies in place. In the coming years, the number of sexual-harassment complaints filed with the EEOC has fallen steadily in recent years, from 16,000 in 1997 to 12,510 in 2007.In the wake of #MeToo, it would be wrong to pretend this isn’t still an issue. We know that workplace harassment is still alive and well in many workplaces. Many of us, including myself, have experienced it. We must continue to fight to make sure the rights of all workers are respected. Art by Liberal Jane Illustration -- source link

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