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In this moment, the future of our rights, our bodily autonomy, our freedom feels uncertain. What we do next will make a difference for decades to come.
National Women’s Law Center and Legal Momentum, together with Holland & Knight LLP and 31 advocacy organizations, have submitted an amicus brief in Sabatini v. Knouse. This appeal is about whether a reported harasser’s defamation suit against a woman who reported him can be immediately dismissed under Massachusetts anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation law. Our brief first educates the court on the ubiquity of sexual harassment; that it is dramatically underreported, in part due to concern about retaliation; and that harassers are increasingly weaponizing defamation lawsuits precisely to retaliate against and chill reporting. Second, we discuss why statements made in the context of employers’ sexual-harassment investigations, like the harassment report here, are—and need to be—protected under Massachusetts law.