Common Dreams
by Laurie Beacham and Amber Hard

10/27/05

Today we are appalled by the story told in 'North Country,' a film that chronicles the first class-action lawsuit brought for sexual harassment. The suit was led by Lois Jenson, a single mother trying to provide for her family, who became one of the first women to work at Minnesota's Eveleth Mines. ... Legal experts agree that because of the Eveleth case, for the first time employers across the country instituted policies to protect their employees from sexual harassment. Sexual harassment has not disappeared, but Jenson's legal case has made the workplace safer for women nationwide. Jenson's case was important for another reason. It showed how critical it is that we as Americans, even the most powerless, have the right to go to court when we have been harmed. And especially, it showed how vital the right to file class-action lawsuits can be, particularly for the preservation and enforcement of civil rights. Today these rights are under attack by America's biggest corporations. This year, for example, after enormous pressure from the world's biggest industries, Congress passed a law creating significant limits on class-action lawsuits...

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1027-32.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp