The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently reconvened its Harassment Task Force to explore issues that have arisen in light of the #MeToo movement and ongoing fallout from the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct scandal. Co-chaired by Acting EEOC Chair Victoria Lipnic and Commissioner Chai Feldblum, the Task Force was created three years ago to examine the persistent problem of workplace harassment and explore possible strategies for tackling the issue, culminating in the issuance of a Report in 2016. NT Lakis Managing Partner Rae Vann is a member of the Task Force.
On June 11, 2018, the Task Force reconvened at EEOC Headquarters in Washington, DC, to hold a public meeting entitled “Transforming #MeToo into Harassment-Free Workplaces,” featuring testimony from two panels of witnesses who addressed a range of legal and policy issues that have surfaced over the last year.
In a press release announcing the meeting, Acting EEOC Chair Lipnic noted that the co-chairs’ 2016 Report “laid the groundwork for the launch of a renewed effort to prevent harassment,” and that in the time since the Weinstein allegations broke, “the public’s demand for action has coalesced” with the Task Force’s work. She pledged that the EEOC would “continue to lead the fight against workplace harassment and to promote solutions to prevent it.”
Copies of the Task Force meeting agenda, as well as witness statements and bios, are available on the EEOC’s website.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.