While many large companies have openly discussed their
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission receives around 12,500 sexual harassment charges each year — this doesn't account for any cases filed at the local or state level, nor does it truly represent how many workers have experienced harassment, with many victims afraid that speaking up will lead to job loss. In fact, according to the Harvard Business Review, 58% of women won't file a complaint. This only goes to show that viral movements like #MeToo have only made dents in the issue after decades of work.
Ann Olivarius, chair and senior partner at international law firm McAllister Olivarius, has been representing victims of sexual harassment and violence in civil court for over 30 years. She has seen up close how slowly companies have progressed on gender equity and what it costs women.
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"Most women have been harassed or assaulted — I hear these stories all the time, and not just because I'm in this business," says Olivarius. "It's a problem that nobody wants to talk about. Nobody wants to address it with any serious legislation. But women have to keep speaking up and fighting these battles."
These cases are an uphill battle, with companies often dragging out lawsuits for years before settling, notes Olivarius. After two years, McDonald's paid nearly $2 million to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit in January of this year, with teenage employees reporting frequent unwanted touching, offensive comments, sexual advances and intimidation by managers, supervisors and co-workers. Goldman Sachs recently paid $215 million to settle a 13-year class action lawsuit by 2,800 female associates and vice presidents that claimed women were discriminated against when it came to pay, performance evaluations and promotions. But settlements do not necessarily equate to lessons learned, underlines Olivarius.
"That amount of settlement is chump change for a financial service business like Goldman Sachs," she says. "It's an easy way out, where they pay virtually no money after they stalled, procrastinated and prolonged the pain for the women."
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Goldman states on its website that the company is "committed to making progress toward racial equity, advancing gender equality, and increasing representation at every level of our firm." But in Olivarius' experiences, these statements are rarely put into practice when women are actually facing
"HR is not there to protect employees' rights," she says. "They're interested in protecting the corporation and stopping lawsuits from going forward."
Olivarius says HR should not be the only resource employees can turn to if they feel they are facing discrimination in the workplace. Whether it looks like adding further protections for employees in employment contracts or updating office policies, it cannot be left up to interpretation whether companies are willing to tolerate, and even accept, discrimination as part of their work culture; years-long lawsuits often prove just that, she says.
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However, one case stood out to Olivarius as a potential wake-up call to employers: the recent sex discrimination case against Omni Hotels. Sarah Lindsley, who worked at Omni for 16 years, claimed she and other women faced discrepancies in pay and promotions because of their gender. On top of that, the company's "boy's club" culture encouraged sexual harassment against women workers. In March, the jury ultimately awarded Lindsley $25.1 million after an eight-year-long battle: $100,000 for suffering and mental anguish and $25 million in punitive damages. Olivarius served as an adviser to attorneys working on the case.
"Omni doesn't have to actually pay that much because of caps on what somebody can receive," says Olivarius. "But the jury sent a clear message: What Omni did was wrong in all shapes and forms, and it had to be stopped."
For Olivarius, this case shows that more and more of the public want companies held accountable for their actions and negligence. But she understands some companies will fight tooth and nail against equality in the workplace — and in that case, women and men should be prepared on how to protect themselves.
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"If you feel like you are being discriminated against at your office, call it out to us and get a different email address you're just going to use with us," says Olivarius. "Start to document things around you, like the date, the time and what you saw. Discreetly decide what you want to do and collect whatever evidence you can. We often find that evidence disappears."
Olivarius warns employees against using their work email to communicate about
While discrimination and harassment cases are rarely quick and easy, Olivarius does ask that employees, especially women, speak up about their experiences in the workplace.
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"People say, 'Don't put your name out there, you'll never have a future,'" says Olivarius. "But the fact is most of the women I have represented have won money. They are hired back if they want to be hired back. They don't want to work with those guys? Forget it. There are plenty of jobs out there for women who go forth with sexual harassment lawsuits and win them. People like winners."
Ultimately, Olivarius believes
"Speaking up opens the door to many more possibilities to get justice for women who had been denied it for so, so long," says Olivarius. "That's what we are working towards: a better world."
