Lately, thankfully, women, especially movie stars, have come forward to expose sexual harassment. The most notable harasser is Harvey Weinstein, with over 100 accusers. Sexual harassers usually don’t harass in a vacuum. They are repeat offenders. I feel confident that Weinstein is a despicable sexual reprobate.
However, sometimes, recently, we may have forgotten that there could be another side to the matter. I know my belief that sexual harassment must be proven may strike some people as shocking. I handle sexual harassment claims, but there are reasons I believe my clients. It may be the corroboration by co-workers, the repeated complaints, or the credibility of the parties. However, we must be careful. I fear that we could get to a point where a mere accusation without merit, can ruin a man.
I am a feminist, but we must be fair. There is a lot of sexual harassment out there, but merely because someone is accused does not make it so.
In our sexual harassment cases, we generally have corroboration or multiple complaints. “Time is up” for sexual harassment. The ‘Me, too” movement has helped scores of women. But we cannot forget that some accusations may be false. We do not want to have a Joe McCarthy mentality. To the brave women coming forward who have been harassed, I commend you and recognize how hard it is to come forward. But, we need to not make knee-jerk judgments. It helps no one to vilify those who may be innocent. I hope I and others can vindicate women with valid claims and investigate to know the difference.
And it must not be tolerated. For sure.
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