180180 Chapter 5 | Civil RightsTwo other areas where the Supreme Court has helped advance women’s rights
are affirmative action and protection against sexual harassment. In 1987, the Court
approved affirmative action in a case involving a woman who was promoted over a man
despite the fact that he had scored slightly higher than she did on a test. The Court ruled
that the promotion was acceptable to make up for past discrimination.^79 And in 1993 the
Court made it easier to sue employers for sexual harassment, saying that a woman did
not have to reach the point of a nervous breakdown before claiming that she was being
harassed; it was enough to demonstrate a pattern of “repeated and unwanted” behavior
that created a “hostile workplace environment.”^80 Later rulings stated that if a single
act is flagrant, the conduct does not have to be repeated to create a hostile environment.
The issues of sexual harassment exploded on the national scene in October 2017
when Ashley Judd, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Rose McGowan alleged that
Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted them. Ten days later, actress
Alyssa Milano encouraged other women to share their stories with the hashtag #MeToo.
Within 24 hours, the messages had been retweeted 500,000 times and shared in 12
million posts on Facebook. Allegations of sexual harassment or assault have ended the
careers of Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly, Senator Al Franken, comedian Bill Cosby,
Representative John Conyers, Alabama Senate nominee Roy Moore, morning show
anchors Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose, Olympic gymnast doctor Lawrence G. Nassar,
public radio star Garrison Keillor, celebrity chef Mario Batali, conductor James Levine,
actor Kevin Spacey, and many more. Time magazine named “The Silence Breakers” their
“person of the year” for 2017 for their courage in bringing attention to this problem.^81
While the court of public opinion and the actual courts have played a central role in
bringing justice to the victims of sexual assault and harassment, the Supreme Court has
been less sympathetic to plaintiffs in cases involving pay discrimination. Lilly Ledbetter
sued Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company because she had received lower pay than men
doing the same work over a 20-year period, which she claimed was gender discrimination.
The Court rejected her claim, saying that she did not meet the time limit required by law, as
the discrimination must have occurred within 180 days of the claim. (This overturned the
long-standing policy of the EEOC, which held that each new paycheck restarted the 180-
day clock as a new act of discrimination.)^82 Dissenters pointed out that pay discrimination
usually occurs in small increments over long periods, so it would be impossible to recognize
unequal pay within 180 days of an initial paycheck. Furthermore, workers do not have
access to information about fellow workers’ pay, so it would be almost impossible to meet
the standard set by the Court. Congress restored the old standard in January 2009 by
passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. But as Figure 5.5 shows, significant pay disparities
between men and women remain throughout much of the United States. Early in 2016,
President Obama issued an executive order requiring companies to report to the federal
government what they pay employees by race, gender, and ethnicity. He said, “Women are
not getting the fair shot that we believe every single American deserves.”^83
The largest sexual discrimination lawsuit in the nation’s history was filed in 2001
against Walmart on behalf of 1.5 million women who had worked at Walmart since- Among other things, the plaintiffs alleged the following:
- Over objections from a female executive, senior management regularly referred to
female store employees as “little Janie Qs” and “girls.” - A Sam’s Club (Walmart’s warehouse retail chain) manager in California told
another woman that she should “doll up” to get promoted. - Managers have repeatedly told female employees that men “need to be paid more
than women because they have families to support.” - A male manager in South Carolina told a female employee that “God made Adam
first, so women would always be second to men.”
On International Women’s Day 2017,
demonstrations brought attention to
the pay disparity between men and
women.DID YOU KNOW?
Women working full-time earn$0.78
compared to every dollar
earned by men.
Source: WhiteHouse.govFull_06_APT_64431_ch05_148-197.indd 180 16/11/18 1:30 PM