• 07
  • October
    2011

These days, it's fairly common to read stories about sexual harassment. Like most stories, though, there are two sides. On one hand, it's unfortunate (not to mention illegal) that individuals are subjected to sexual harassment at workplaces in San Francisco. On the flip side, at least individuals who are being harassed are fighting it.

Rather than roll over and accept the harassment as status quo, people are taking their cases to court, and they are fighting to receive compensation for lost wages and emotional distress.

That has not always been the case, however, and a recent article in Bloomberg paid tribute to the woman who is credited with making people throughout the country first talk about sexual harassment in the workplace. A story that was published on Wednesday shared an interview with Anita Hill, and it described the struggles she faced after accusing Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.

Although Hill described the experience as terrible, she said she's glad she came forward with the harassment. In some ways, she said she also appreciated the attacks on her character because now other women "know what to expect" if they ever go public with sexual harassment complaints.

According to the complaint Hill filed almost 20 years ago, while Thomas worked in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, he spoke to her about "explicit sex videos he had watched, and once asked in her presence while at work, 'Who has put pubic hair on my Coke?'"

Throughout the hearings and later in his autobiography, Thomas denied Hill's accusations. He was also one of the Supreme Court Justices who ruled against the women in this year's historic sex discrimination case against Walmart.

Hill was surprised by the outcome of her case, especially the impact it had on the public. Hill said she was taken aback because "it started individuals talking about sexual harassment...talking about it in ways they had talked about it before." Sadly, many victims of sexual harassment still fear retaliation, but at the Supreme Court has taken its stance of harassment in the workplace.

Source: Bloomberg, "Anita Hill, 20 Years On, Seeks Equality: Susan Antilla," Susan Antilla, Oct. 5, 2011