Sexual Harassment and Hope

 

Sexual Harassment and Hope

1972

On my first professional corporate job, my boss was wonderful, a mentor in the full sense of the word. In fact, for decades when I was solving a problem, I would think, "What would Walter do?"

Not everyone was so lucky. The PR assistant had her ideas stolen by her boss, but worse was the accounting department. The women complained that their breasts should not be part of the job descriptions, yet they were. 

Thanks to Betty Frieden and The Feminine Mystique women were given something other than secretarial roles. Even with good degrees they would start as secretaries. However if the boss moved on they would be promoted to his responsibilities, given his title with the word ACTING in front of it and paid about half his salary which still was a raise. Often they would use it as a stepping stone to a full title and an almost full salary elsewhere.

The accounting manager hired a new accountant. She had an MBA but was still in a junior role. We all heard shouting from the accounting office followed by the new employee bursting out the door screaming, "Don't touch my breast!!!!!!!!!!" She ran to the HR office.

We expected her to be fired.

We were wrong.

He was.

HR called some former female employees who verified why they left.

Hi-fiving hadn't been invented -- but the women mentally hi-fived. We also noticed after that the few men in the company that we had to watch out for were on their best behavior. 

It was a start.