Since several women have come forward with allegations that GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain sexually harassed them, I’ve received several emails and phone calls from local women who have shared their tales of being sexually harassed by their bosses and supervisors. The harassment ranged from inappropriate discussions about a married woman’s sex life with her husband to cornering women in tight spaces to actual groping. The bosses threaten firing if the woman fights back or offer pay raises and promotions if the women will submit.
The women tell of employers and payroll leasing companies looking the other way, making the victims question their own memories of an event or reassign the victim to lesser jobs to force them to quit. Others wrote about the assailant being given “counseling” only to start up again after the mandatory classes.
It’s too early to tell if the problem is pervasive through the local business community, but the number of emails and conversations on the topic has been alarming. For a father of three daughters, it really disturbs me….which means you can expect me to investigate further.