First, the good news: dozens of women have been speaking out about sexual harassment in the workplace in recent months, bringing their upsetting experiences into the light and out of the shadows after a long period of silence about this issue in organizations. Understandably, women have been coming forward slowly either because of pressure to stay silent or justifiable fear of negative consequences to their careers. Gretchen Carlson spoke out at Fox News and brought about the firing of Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly, and other women gained courage from her example to tell their stories of sexual harassment at Fox. Mike Isaac of the New York Times reports that “in February, the former Uber engineer Susan Fowler wrote a public blog post detailing what she said was a history of sexual harassment at Uber. That plunged Uber into crisis” and emboldened dozens of other women to come forward about the pervasive “bro culture” at technology firms. Shirley Leung of the Boston Globe notes that while most women have not spoken out publicly because of fear of losing opportunities for jobs or startup funding, those who have are making an impact. Katie Benner of the New York Times describes some of the results:
- Dave McClure, founder of the startup incubator 500 StartUps, resigned after admitting to an accusation of sexual harassment. The company also had covered up an earlier sexual harassment charge against him when “the investigation was kept confidential.”
- Binary Capital imploded due to sexual harassment charges lodged against Justin Caldbeck by several women.
- Uber CEO Travis Kalanick resigned.
- The New England Venture Capital Association invited members to sign a pledge of good behavior.
- Organizational leaders ignore complaints or sweep them under the rug
- Lack of transparency is built into employment contracts with arbitration clauses that rarely favor complainants
- Lack of transparency is built into nondisclosure agreements required for settlements when sexual harassment claims are found to have merit
- Abusive organizational cultures are enabled by a failure of oversight by boards and investors
- How We Can Stop Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
- Sexual Harassment and the Culture of Masculinity at Fox News, Uber, and in Society
- Why Sexual Harassment Is Still Happening in the Workplace