National Women’s Law Center Issues Support for BE HEARD Act, Stronger Reforms to End Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

(Washington, D.C.) Today, the Bringing an End to Harassment by Enhancing Accountability and Rejecting Discrimination (BE HEARD) in the Workplace Act is being introduced in Congress, by Senator Patty Murray and Congresswomen Katherine Clark and Ayanna Pressley. The BE HEARD in the Workplace Act is the first comprehensive federal legislative proposal to address workplace harassment in the wake of #MeToo going viral. It would extend protections against harassment and other forms of discrimination to more workers; remove barriers to access to justice, such as short statutes of limitations and restrictively interpreted legal standards; promote transparency and accountability; and require and fund efforts to prevent workplace harassment and discrimination.

The following is a statement by Fatima Goss Graves, President and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC):

“The National Women’s Law Center is proud to support the introduction of the BE HEARD in the Workplace Act, a visionary effort that sets a new marker for reform in the fight to end the epidemic of harassment in the workplace. Over the past year and a half, the voices of survivors have inspired an unprecedented demand for prevention of and accountability for workplace harassment. The BE HEARD Act answers that call. As the first comprehensive federal legislative solution for the workplace proposed in the wake of #MeToo going viral, it offers a groundbreaking set of reforms that responds to the demands for change that have reverberated across this country. Most importantly, it’s a victory for the thousands of courageous advocates and survivors who have shared their stories and their pain in hopes of transforming workplaces and achieving safety, dignity, and equality for all.”

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For immediate release: April 9, 2019
Contact: Inés Rénique ([email protected])