Workplace harassment on the basis of sex, race, and other protected characteristics is widespread. It affects workers in every industry and at every level of employment. Harassment holds workers back, threatens their safety and economic opportunities, and excludes many from public life. Women are more likely to experience workplace harassment, and the least economically secure workers have the most to lose from harassment, especially workers in low-paid jobs; Black women and other women of color; LGBTQI+ people; immigrant workers; and people with disabilities.
In the eight years since #MeToo went viral, 27 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws aimed at strengthening protections against workplace harassment. The most widely adopted reforms have focused on protecting workers who speak out from retaliation, ensuring that all workers can have their day in court, requiring employer transparency and accountability, and making it more costly for employers to violate the law.
Following in-depth discussions with policy experts, worker advocates, attorneys, and academics to assess the impact of these laws and identify what legal reforms have or have not worked well for those who experience workplace harassment—especially low-paid women, women of color, and LGBTQI+ workers—this report presents a collaborative vision of the policy solutions needed to fill existing gaps.
Pursuing and defending this vision in the states has become more urgent than ever given the Trump administration’s relentless efforts to dismantle workplace anti-discrimination protections, in particular for women, people of color, immigrants, and LGBTQI+ workers. State legislators in particular have an opportunity to present an alternative vision of a world that truly works for survivors of harassment.
Read the full report here.