THE PREDATOR ZONE
By Mark Davis
The path to justice is seldom straight and narrow
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#Me Too and Time’s Up
have come together as a movement
focusing the country’s attention on
the continuing inequalities in the
workplace. The sound of so many
victims’ voices has underscored
the many challenges our society faces
when it comes to issues like
disparate pay and sexual harassment.
ut even with all of the momentum behind this move-
ment there remain many practical and legal barriers
to reporting sexual misconduct in the workplace.
Obviously, many victims fear their harassers. Others worry
about broader reprisals like being fired or suffering permanent
damage to their careers.
In a recent federal lawsuit, a former library security guard
in Seattle alleged that a supervisor failed to investigate her
allegation that she was bent over and spanked by a coworker.
Instead, the lawsuit states, the supervisor joked that plaintiff’s
coworker just gave her a few “birthday spankings.” 1 The City of
Seattle settled with her and a co-plaintiff for $220,000.
In another case, a Tesla engineer filed a complaint in February 2016 alleging the company had a “predator zone,” where
men catcalled and whistled at women. 2 Tesla fired the engineer
three months later, claiming she “chose to pursue a miscarriage
of justice by suing Tesla and falsely attacking our company in
the press,” according to a National Public Radio report. 3
These cases illustrate that for those who have the grit to
