Moving Forward, Looking Back: A Retrospective on Sexual Harassment Law

Abstract

The fiftieth anniversary of Title VII provides an appropriate occasion to look back to an era when women suffered sexual abuse in the workplace (and many other places) with no possible recourse. Once feminist writers and litigators connected the dots, judges came to understand that a broad mandate to end sex discrimination had to include a mandate to eliminate sexual harassment at work. The decades that followed saw the step-by-step construction of a doctrine that ostensibly protects employees from unwanted sexual behavior at work.

In this symposium issue the author examines the impact of sexual harassment law citing several court cases as examples.

Keywords: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Sexual Harassment Law, Workplace Harassment, Sexual Abuse, Workplace, Sex Discrimination