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Sandra Bundy: The First Woman To Fight Against Workplace Sexual Harassment

By Njideka Agbo
16 January 2019   |   8:01 am
Next time you face workplace sexual harassment and you don't know what to do, ask yourself what will Sandra Bundy do? Before #MeToo campaign, Bundy is the first woman to go public and to court with her harassment claims. Bundy’s sexual harassment began when she got a job at the District of Columbia Department of…

Sandra Bundy

Next time you face workplace sexual harassment and you don’t know what to do, ask yourself what will Sandra Bundy do?

Before #MeToo campaign, Bundy is the first woman to go public and to court with her harassment claims.

Bundy’s sexual harassment began when she got a job at the District of Columbia Department of Corrections (DCDC) in 1970. Two years in, she alleged that four supervisors Arthur Burton, James Gainey, Lawrence Swain and Delbert Jackson sexually harassed her four three years.

Every time she was asked by one of her supervisor Arthur Burton to come home with him, she rejected his offer. She alleges that he traced her number and called her home one time.

When her former colleague James Gainey became her new supervisor, he began to patt her buttocks calling her “fine Momma.” Again, he asked her out, “I’ve got a pocketful of money. Let’s take the afternoon off to a motel and lay up.”

Due to her rejections, she was threatened with dismissal. She later found that her male collegues had been promoted leaving her behind. She complained to her supervisor’s superior Lawrence Swain, who simply told her “any man in his right mind would want to rape you.”

sandra bundy

sandra bundy

Another time, Swain asked if she was in a relationship, “Because if not, I want to take you to bed myself.”

Despite contemplating suicide and getting depressed, she followed her female colleague’s advise and began recording the incidents in a diary.

Take a look at this video:

These were among the many incidents that she faced. Her case with Delbert Jackson being the unique of all. She took the case to the United States District Court and lost. After appealing, workplace sexual harassment was enlisted as a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

And if you are wondering, before the court case involving Bader Ginsberg in Reed v Reed which fought for the inclusion of women in the equal protection clause of the US 14th amendment, it was legal.

Ladies, your queen! (can’t hear you clapping!)

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