The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced a more than 50 percent increase in EEOC workplace-harassment lawsuits and a marked jump in complaints for the 2018 fiscal year. It's always bad news to know that the workplace continues as a primary venue for unwanted sexual advances and other harassment, but it's great news that complaints are yielding increased enforcement actions.
Recent controversy surrounding Justice Brett Kavanaugh's ascension to the Supreme Court underscores the consequences when victims fail to speak out promptly so investigators can take action while the case is still fresh. The passage of time after an assault or harassment incident works only to the benefit of the perpetrator, meaning an injustice is more likely to go unpunished.
The EEOC reported last week in its preliminary assessment of fiscal 2018 actions that the commission filed 66 harassment lawsuits, including 41 that included allegations of sexual harassment. The commission said the results reflect a more than 50 percent increase over fiscal 2017 for such lawsuits.
The EEOC also said that formal complaints alleging sexual harassment increased by more than 12 percent from fiscal year 2017. Financial penalties recovered by the commission on behalf of sexual harassment victims totaled nearly $70 million, up from $47.5 million in fiscal 2017.
Awareness of workplace harassment — and sexual harassment in general — increased dramatically amid prosecutorial actions against comedian Bill Cosby and film producer Harvey Weinstein. Other career-ending, high-profile cases involved Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., actor Kevin Spacey, Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly and Michael Oreskes, the senior vice president for news at NPR. The #MeToo movement has taken scores of other personalities to task.
This week marks the one-year anniversary since The New York Times and The New Yorker began an intensive series of reports on harassment and assault, starting with multiple accusations against Weinstein.
One of the main defenses used by Kavanaugh and his supporters during the confirmation process, when he was accused of teenage sexual assault and other offenses, was that the victims failed to come forward immediately after the alleged incidents so they could be investigated. Advocates for victims in such cases say it's fairly common for them not to step forward, as they struggle with feelings of shame, fear of backlash or concerns that they won't be believed.
Kavanaugh has denied the accusations, which did not involve the workplace, but the case shined a spotlight on the importance of speaking out promptly — an essential ingredient in making sure harassers and assailants are punished swiftly and appropriately.
The EEOC's actions are limited to the workplace, where one poll suggests 81 percent of women and 43 percent of men have faced sexual harassment. The increase in the commission's enforcement actions offers new hope to victims that their complaints will be taken seriously.
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