Law School Hosts Symposium on Sexual Harassment

A symposium that charts the future and examines the past of the legal status of sexual harassment will be held at Yale University, Friday, Feb. 27-Sunday, March 1. The conference celebrates the 20th anniversary of the publication of Catharine A. MacKinnon’s landmark book, “Sexual Harassment of Working Women” (Yale 1979). Sponsored by the Yale Law School, Yale University Press and the University of Michigan Law School, the three-day conference will take place in the Sterling Law Buildings, 127 Wall St.

Should sex have to be “unwelcome” to be legally actionable? Should institutions be held responsible for acts of sexual harassment? Is the law right to treat sexual harassment as sex discrimination? Can there be sexual harassment between two people of the same sex? Should the sexual orientation of the parties matter? Does sexual harassment law infringe upon Constitutionally protected speech? How do people in other countries – India, Japan, France, Germany and Israel – handle these problems?

The conference at Yale will explore the legal and social impact of sexual harassment law, closing with a final discussion of sex equality.

“Given the public backlash against sexual harassment law prompted by recent developments in Washington, this seems an especially important moment to explore this body of law and the controversies surrounding it,” says Reva Siegel, professor of law and one of the conference organizers.

Among the conference participants are Andrea Dworkin, feminist theorist and activist; Martha Nussbaum, professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago; Kimberle Williams Crenshaw, critical race theorist; and Guido Calabresi, federal judge and former dean of the law school.

MacKinnon will attend the conference and be available to journalists who wish to arrange interviews.

Yale faculty participants include George Priest, Kenji Yoshino, Jack Balkin, Nancy Cott, Harlon Leigh Dalton, Harold Hongju Koh, Burke Marshall, William Eskridge Jr. and Judith Resnik, in addition to Calabresi and Siegel. Eskridge will be joining the Yale Law School faculty in September.

Panels and panelists:

Feb. 27

4-4:15 p.m. Introductory Remarks: Reva Siegel and Catharine A.MacKinnon

4:15-6 p.m. Perspectives (Nancy Cott, moderator)

Christine Chinkin, Kimberly Crenshaw, Andrea Dworkin, William Eskridge Jr., Guido Calabresi.

Feb. 28

9-10:45 a.m. Accountability (Judith Resnik)

Pamela Price, George Priest, David Oppenheimer, Deborah Rhode, Cass Sunstein.

11 a.m.-12:45 p.m

Unwelcomeness (Carol Sanger)

Katherine Abrams, Louise Fitzgerald, Jane Larson, Lea VanderVelde, Robin West.

2:15-4 p.m.

Same-Sex Harassment (Harlon Dalton)

Katherine Franke, Janet Halley, Chris Kendall, Kendall Thomas, Kenji Yoshino.

4:15-6:15 p.m.

Speech (Jack Balkin)

Kingsley Browne, Nancy Fraser, Robert Post, Dorothy Roberts, Fred Schauer.

March 1

9:45-11:30 a.m.

Comparative Perspectives (Harold Koh)

Susanne Baer, Orit Kamir, Martha Nussbaum, Abigail Smith, Yukiko Tsunoda.

11:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Why Equality? (Burke Marshall)

Sally Goldfarb, Diane Rosenfeld, Ann Scales, Gerald Torres.