For a better experience, click the Compatibility Mode icon above to turn off Compatibility Mode, which is only for viewing older websites.

Note - A Crossroads in Time: The Implications of Intersectionality and #MeToo for Sexual Harassment Law

Abstract

Ever since the Supreme Court established sexual harassment as a type of employment discrimination under Title VII, courts have applied fact-specific standards without a clear idea of the scope of workplace sexual harassment. Judges and juries have historically been more likely than not to dismiss and find against claims of (sometime egregious) sexual misconduct because the judicially interpreted standards set the bar so high. #MeToo, a social movement that brought forward thousands of individual stories of sexual harassment and assault experiences, has illuminated many of the realities of these experiences, altering our cultural construction of sexual harassment. The lessons of the social movement can influence a corollary legal movement to change the way judicial standards are applied in sexual harassment cases. This Note examines some of the ways #MeToo can inform sexual harassment law and attempts to apply a critical race feminist lens to these continuing questions.