It’s been months since celebrities first wore Time’s Up pins on the red carpet, but the advocacy organization hasn’t stopped fighting for women facing harassment.
On Sunday, Ronan Farrow published another bombshell investigation in The New Yorker. In its latest story, six young women accused CBS CEO Leslie Moonves of sexual misconduct.
Moonves, one of America’s highest-paid CEOs, resigned hours later — but in hopes of a final payout from his former employer.
“A couple of days ago, they were still talking about letting him go with a very generous severance package, up in the neighborhood of $100 million,” Farrow told CNN. “Many of the women found it very, very disappointing. They felt this was a board that allowed a powerful man who makes a lot of money for this company to, in one person’s words, ‘get away with it’.”
Amid rumors that Moonves will receive a multi-million dollar “golden parachute” package, Time’s Up, issued a statement calling for “real change”.
Instead of a rumored $100 million payout, Moonves and CBS will now donate $20 million to organizations supporting the #MeToo movement and other groups fighting for workplace equality for women. That money will be deducted from any severance money Moonves ultimately receives, and CBS has promised that any payment to Moonves “will depend on the results” of ongoing internal investigations at CBS.
end of time responded with a tweet: “A $20M donation is a first step to admitting you have a problem, @CBS. But it’s far from a solution. You have $180M set aside to pay Moonves. Use that money to help women. Cleaning up the company of this toxic culture requires real systemic change.”
Progress has been made
Since January 1st, Time’s Up has been hard at work creating some of that change.
In October 2017, the stunning allegations against Hollywood heavyweight Harvey Weinstein sparked a national reckoning on sexual harassment. In the months that followed, Time’s Up launched as a coalition for victims of sexual harassment across all industries.
During awards season, celebrities walked the red carpet wearing Time’s Up pins and, most notably, dressed in black for the Golden Globes.
Since then, the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund has raised more than $22 million to help women fight sexual harassment cases. The fund, which is housed and managed by the National Women’s Law Center, has so far received more than 3,000 requests from women seeking help with workplace harassment.
These women report a variety of problems to the Legal Defense Fund: some battle unresponsive HR, others struggle to report retaliation.
“We’ve seen a big explosion of people seeking help,” says Sharyn Tejani, director of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund. “They’re people who have been harassed or assaulted at work years ago and they’re finally coming forward, they’re people who’ve had something happen to them at work and they’re not quite sure what to do… So it’s on the map, what we’re seeing.”
From there, Tejani says more than 700 attorneys have partnered with Time’s Up to provide free initial consultations to victims. In some cases, Time’s Up works with attorneys to fund these cases as they go to court.
More progress to come
But even as high-profile cases fade from the headlines, the #MeToo movement has no expiration date, according to its leaders. In March at SXSW, Time’s Up founding member Nina Shaw said, “I think there are a lot of guys waiting for this to end. It’s never going to end.”
In the months since, the Legal Defense Fund has continued to fight for the rights of low-wage workers. This summer it announced outreach grants for organizations supporting vulnerable communities. Grants educate employees about sexual harassment rights and the reporting process.
“The important thing here is that it started with these women in Hollywood, and then the connections were made that turned it into something broader, much bigger and more expansive than that,” says Tejani. “While it may have started in one place, the focus is really on low-wage workers.”
CNNMoney (New York) First published September 10, 2018: 5:33 PM ET
