(WOMENSENEWS)–1991. Anita Faye Hill, a law professor in Oklahoma, tells investigators with the Senate Judiciary Committee that Clarence Thomas, a nominee for the Supreme Court, sexually harassed her when they worked together at the U.S. Education Department and the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission.
The investigators paid little attention to her allegations until Nina Totenberg reported them on National Public Radio. Women across America demanded that the Senate committee hear Hill. Reluctantly, the Judiciary Committee, which had no women members, agreed. The subsequent hearings were incendiary on several levels, a defining moment in the struggle over sexual harassment and credibility.
Thomas was confirmed. He is one of the court’s consistently most conservative voices.
For more information:
University of Maryland Women’s Studies Database:
Anita Hill’s testimony in October 1991:
http://www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/Topic/WomensStudies/GenderIssues/SexualHarassment/hill-thomas-testimony
