Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer explains that sexual harassment can be legally defined as sexual behavior that is viewed as intimidating, hostile or offensive in the workplace. The writer then relates that sexual harassment in the workplace was brought to the national stage by the Senate Judicial Committee during the Clarence Thomas hearings in 1991. The writer notes that no charges were ever made regarding the inappropriate behavior of Thomas in the workplace, but it was common knowledge that it was his behavior that put Anita Hill in the spotlight. The writer points out that there were so many allegations in the Thomas-Hill controversy that the issues of oppressed and oppressor were hardly recognizable. The controversy brought into the headlines important issues of race, equality and discrimination against all people. The writer concludes that sexual harassment was the key factor in recognizing how the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had been forgotten.

From the Paper:

"Ultimately the question was not whether Anita Hill was telling the truth about being sexually harassed. The question became why the Senate confirmed a Federal Judge with only two years experience with no respect for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the people under his tutelage. Why was a Federal Judge nominated without investigation into his behavior with the people he worked closest with?
President George H.W. Bush nominated and sought help from conservatives to put Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court as a replacement of Thurgood Marshall who was retiring after 24 years on the bench. The political climate in 1991 was far more conservative then it was in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court. The Bush presidency followed eight years of the Reagan Administration and the country was being directed towards a more conservative atmosphere."

Sample of Sources Used:

• (1996). Sexual Harassment on the Job. Retrieved April 12, 2007.http://www.lectlaw.com/files/emp44.htm
• (n.d.). Understanding Harassment Law. Retrieved April 12, 2007.http://www.eiu.edu/~training/sh/employee/no_narration/Page6-Legal/Legal%20page1.htm
• (n.d.) Anita Hill. Retrieved April 12, 2007.http://www.answers.com/topic/anita-hill
• Hitchens, Christopher. (May 9, 2007). The Real David Brock. Retrieved April 13, 2007. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020527/hitchens
• (n.d.). An Outline of the Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas Controversy. Retrieved April 13, 2007. http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/hill/hillframe.htm

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