National Women’s Law Center Responds to Chicago Tribune Article
From 2018 to 2021, SKDK was on a monthly retainer with the TIME’s Up Legal Defense Fund (“the Fund”), an initiative that has been run by staff at the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) since the Fund’s inception in 2018. SKDK’s primary scope was to connect survivors with public relations professionals, whose media assistance on behalf of those survivors was then supported by the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund. In December 2021, the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund ended this contract with SKDK and moved the function of connecting survivors with public relations professionals in-house, in part to ensure that there are no potential perceived or actual conflicts while doing this work – and that survivors’ needs and safety are always prioritized.
In response to an article published in the Chicago Tribune, the following statement is from Uma M. Iyer, a spokesperson for NWLC:
“We were surprised to learn from press coverage that Speaker Madigan retained SKDK – we had no prior knowledge of this fact and can imagine how a revelation like this is deeply upsetting to Ms. Hampton. As a team made up of survivors and individuals who fight for justice every day, we share her frustration.
“We remain proud to have assisted Ms. Hampton with legal and PR funding in her case; she is one of 5,000+ survivors we’ve assisted thus far, with more survivors seeking support every day. It is our sincere hope that all of those survivors’ stories – and the epidemic of workplace sexual harassment and violence that still runs rampant in this country – receive the same spotlight and attention they deserve.”