Anaya Nolan
Sexual harassment laws have evolved over time, with the first sexual harassment cases brought to court in the 1970s, and the first federal appeals court case regarding workplace sexual harassment taking place in 1981. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 laid the foundation for preventing sexual harassment, but it was not until the 1970s and 1980s that a series of cases and legislative actions established the legal framework for addressing this issue. The definition of sexual harassment has continued to evolve, with the #MeToo movement leading to strengthened protections and legislative changes in several states.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| First sexual harassment cases | 1970s |
| First sexual harassment case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court | 1980s |
| First federal appeals court case to hold that workplace sexual harassment was employment discrimination | 1981 |
| First class-action lawsuit | 1988 |
| Sexual Harassment of Working Women by legal activist Catharine MacKinnon | 1979 |
| Saturn's Rings report by Mary Rowe | 1973 |
| Civil Rights Act | 1964 |
| The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act | 2021 |
| The Speak Out Act | 2022 |
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What You'll Learn
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
During the 1970s and 1980s, a series of important legal cases helped to define and establish the concept of sexual harassment in U.S. law. Cases such as Williams v. Saxbe (1976), Paulette L. Barnes v. Douglas M. Costle (1977), and Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986) established that sexual harassment was a form of sex discrimination and that it could create a hostile work environment. These cases, often brought by African American women and civil rights activists, applied the principles of civil rights to sex discrimination and paved the way for further protections against sexual harassment in the workplace.
In addition to legal developments, the 1970s and 1980s also saw a growing social awareness of sexual harassment as a prevalent issue. Surveys and studies, such as the Working Women's United (WWU) survey in the 1970s, helped to demonstrate the prevalence of sexual harassment in the workplace and inspired other organizations to conduct their own research. The work of legal activist Catharine MacKinnon, who published the book "Sexual Harassment of Working Women" in 1979, was also instrumental in shaping the legal understanding of sexual harassment and creating specific policies and procedures to address it.
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Early surveys and reports
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 legally addressed sexual harassment in the workplace for the first time, prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, colour, sex, religion, or national origin. However, it was not until the 1970s that the first sexual harassment cases were brought to court, with the first sexual harassment laws being codified in U.S. law in the 1970s and 1980s.
In the early 1970s, women's groups in Massachusetts discussed the harassment of women in the workplace. At Cornell University, instructor Lin Farley discovered that women in a discussion group had repeatedly described being fired or quitting their jobs due to harassment and intimidation by men. Mary Rowe, Special Assistant to the President and Chancellor for Women and Work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), used the term "sexual harassment" in her 1973 report "Saturn's Rings". Rowe's report inspired MIT to develop specific policies and procedures aimed at stopping sexual harassment, making it one of the first large organizations in the U.S. to do so.
Working Women's United (WWU) created one of the first studies to measure sexual harassment. Their survey, distributed during a speak-out event, found that 7 out of 10 women experienced sexual harassment. The respondents' occupations ranged from teachers to factory workers, leading WWU to conclude that sexual harassment occurred in all workplaces. In 1975, Women Office Workers (WOW) surveyed 15,000 women about their experiences and feelings about their workplace, including the prevalence of sexual harassment.
In 1988, the first class-action lawsuit, Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co., was filed, concluding nine years later. In the 1980s, psychologists defined gender harassment as a key subtype of sexual harassment, referring to a class of verbal or nonverbal behaviours that insult or provoke based on gender. In 1989, a court case in Fukuoka, Japan, ruled in favour of a woman who had been subjected to the spreading of sexual rumours by a coworker. This case sparked public interest, resulting in the publication of 10 books, including English-language feminist guidebooks on how not to harass women.
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Legal cases in the 1970s and 1980s
The groundwork for federal sexual harassment laws in the United States was laid by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited employment discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex, or national origin. However, it was not until the mid-1970s that the first sexual harassment cases were brought to court, and it was not until the 1980s that the Supreme Court began to consider the issue. During the 1970s and 1980s, a series of legal cases helped to establish the modern legal understanding of sexual harassment and set the foundation for how it is currently interpreted.
One of the first cases, Williams v. Saxbe (1976), established that it was sex discrimination to fire someone for refusing a supervisor's advances. This was followed by Paulette L. Barnes, Appellant, v. Douglas M. Costle, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (1977), which reached the same conclusion. In Barnes v. Train, commonly thought to be the first sexual harassment case in the United States, the plaintiff claimed that her job was eliminated because she rejected her supervisor's sexual advances. The court ruled that there was no discrimination, but the case brought the issue of sexual harassment into the public eye.
Another important case was Bundy v. Jackson (1981), which was the first federal appeals court case to hold that workplace sexual harassment was a form of employment discrimination. This was affirmed by the Supreme Court five years later in Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson. Alexander v. Yale (1980) was also a pioneering case, establishing that the sexual harassment of female students could be considered sex discrimination under Title IX. Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co. (1988) was the first class-action lawsuit filed in this area, concluding nine years later.
During this period, the definition of sexual harassment was still evolving, with psychologists in the 1980s and 1990s defining gender harassment as a key subtype of sexual harassment. Legal scholar Katherine Franke characterised gender harassment as "a technology of sexism". The first legal formulations of sexual harassment as a form of sex discrimination prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 appeared in Catharine MacKinnon's 1979 book "Sexual Harassment of Working Women". MacKinnon is generally credited with creating the laws surrounding sexual harassment in the United States, building on the work of activists like Mary Rowe at MIT in the early 1970s.
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The MeToo movement
In October 2017, the movement went global as the #MeToo hashtag went viral and survivors across the world came forward about their experiences with sexual assault. The expression began to spread to dozens of other languages, and the scope became somewhat broader, with Burke referring to it as an international movement for justice for marginalised people. After the hashtag went viral, Facebook reported that almost half of its American users were friends with someone who said they had been sexually assaulted or harassed.
The movement has sparked debate over how to support survivors while ensuring due process for the accused. Studies by the US Department of Justice and the UK Home Office estimate that false reports make up only 2-10% of sexual assault claims. Commentators like Jude Doyle and Jennifer Wright argue that #BelieveWomen is not a call to abandon due process but a response to the rarity of false allegations.
The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of all women worldwide experience sexual violence. A poll conducted in 2017 by ABC News and The Washington Post also found that 54% of American women reported receiving "unwanted and inappropriate" sexual advances, with 95% saying that such behaviour usually goes unpunished. Burke has stated that the current purpose of the movement is to give people the resources to have access to healing, as well as to advocate for changes to laws and policies.
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International laws and cases
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) directs states to take measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all fields, promoting equality under law, governance, politics, the workplace, education, and health. The Beijing Platform for Action also recognises sexual harassment as a form of violence and discrimination, calling on governments, employers, unions, and civil society to enact and enforce laws and anti-harassment policies.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has confirmed that sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination covered by the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (No. 111) of 1958. Additionally, the ILO's Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (No. 169) specifically prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union includes the right to be free from discrimination based on sex, and Article 23 mandates equality between men and women in all areas, with directives addressing sexual harassment in employment and access to goods and services.
In the United States, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 established the legal foundation for preventing sexual harassment, although the term "sexual harassment" was not initially included. Title VII of this Act prohibits discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex, and national origin. The Florida Civil Rights Act (FCRA) was modelled after this federal legislation. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 further broadened the reach of sexual harassment laws in federally funded schools.
The first sexual harassment cases in the US emerged in the mid-1970s, and the US Supreme Court addressed sexual harassment for the first time in Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, determining that severe or pervasive sexual harassment by a supervisor violates federal law. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 provided additional protection for employees facing discrimination and harassment in the workplace. More recently, President Joe Biden signed The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, allowing individuals to bring such claims to court.
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Frequently asked questions
Sexual harassment laws were first codified in U.S. law in the 1970s and 1980s, following a series of sexual harassment cases. However, sex discrimination was outlawed in the U.S. in 1964, with the passing of the Civil Rights Act.
The first sexual harassment case in the U.S. is thought to be Barnes v. Train, although the term "sexual harassment" was not used.
Bundy v. Jackson in 1981 was the first federal appeals court case to consider workplace sexual harassment as a form of employment discrimination.
Laws against sexual harassment have evolved to include protections against third-party sexual harassment, expanded legal protections in the 1990s, and strengthened protections in response to the #MeToo movement.
