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Independent Contractors, Uber, and Employees

On September 1, a federal judge certified a class action brought by three Uber drivers who asserted that they are employees and not, as the company had argued, independent contractors.   If the court’s decision it holds, it could be a big deal.  This employee vs. contractor determination may sound like arcane law speak, but […]

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Speedy Ortiz FTW

Punk rock has long been associated with raw energy and disenfranchised white, male youth. However, over the years women and minorities have come to identify with punk rock themes like exclusion from mainstream society, poverty, and life on the fringes. Despite feeling a connection to the music, women, and minorities have long complained of rampant […]

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Mad Men: A Very Unfeminist Ending

Spoiler alerts Fans seem to be all over the map on the Mad Men series finale. When I watched it, I was candidly a little disappointed. But reflecting on it, I think that some of that disappointment speaks to the real world. In other words, Matthew Weiner, the show’s creator, seems to have captured the […]

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No More Drama: We Can’t Forget About Everyday Discrimination

The media is currently saturated with news about the Ellen Pao trial (which my colleagues have written about here and here) and Rolling Stone Magazine’s journalistic errors in its November article about a gang rape at UVA. In different ways, both of these topics highlight one common problem: the unfortunate amount of weight placed on […]

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Columbia and Sexual Assault: What About the Workers?

Columbia University recently garnered national attention amid allegations that the University permitted a serial rapist to remain on campus and graduate.  The case is horrendous for many reasons, not least of which is the University’s response.  I want to set aside the very legitimate questions raised regarding the response as it affects the University’s undergraduate […]

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Addressing campus sexual assault: Individual allegations and systemic reform

I read Sabrina Erdely’s article, “A Rape on Campus,” the day Rolling Stone published it online.  The account details allegations by “Jackie,” a UVA undergraduate, that a group of UVA fraternity brothers sexually assaulted her at a fraternity party.  Like most readers, I admired the author, I felt deep-seated anger at the university, and I […]

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A Cosby Lesson: Power Differentials Silence Assault Survivors at Work

Like many children of the 1980s, I grew up on The Cosby Show. Amid the jokes and physical comedy, the show painted a legendarily wholesome portrait not only of an admirable and loving African-American family, but also of Cosby himself as a male obstetrician who loyally supported and was adored by his female patients and […]

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Stepping Out of the Shadows

Last month, my colleague David Tracey discussed some of the benefits of President Obama’s recent executive action on immigration.  He explored how the executive action might help address the challenges confronted by undocumented farmworkers.  As David explained, undocumented female farmworkers are vulnerable to discrimination, harassment, and violence at the hands of male supervisors who count […]

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Yet Another Reason for Immigration Reform: Sexual Violence and Harassment Against Undocumented Farmworkers

President Obama’s announcement of executive action on immigration last week set off a chain of political chatter– “does the president have the authority?”; “how will Republicans respond?”; “what does this mean for 2016?” The politics of policy were front-and-center; the benefits of action, pushed to the periphery. So I wanted to devote this post to […]

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Latest Sexual Harassment Revelations a Bitter Pill for Yale School of Medicine

On Saturday, The New York Times broke a story about sexual harassment at the prestigious Yale School of Medicine.  The information brought to light by NYT is shocking and troubling on two fronts. First is the nature of the allegations.  According to NYT, the former Head of Cardiology at YSOM inappropriately pursued a junior researcher […]

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