Speak Up! Blog

As this is the inaugural post of the new blog, (grin), it seemed most fitting to open things up with some comments about North Country, since many people are still somewhat abuzz about this since it opened last fall. I first saw the film during its opening weekend, but couldn’t really cough up anything particularly insightful about it at the time because the entire film left me so, well choked up. But it’s been close to a year now, and since the DVD release, and several more viewings, the story is a lot less triggering, even if it is still so very close to home.

I first heard about the movie when someone from the Warner Brothers publicity department contacted me about using the SHS site to help promote the movie. Many promises of items, posters, and free passes were dangled as incentives—“how about if we hold a poster drawing for all the SHS members!!!–none of which were ever delivered, but this was never a motivation for writing an article about the case, anyway. I’d heard about Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co. from a National Public Radio spot they did on the book which the movie is “inspired” by, “Class Action: The Case That Changed Sexual Harassment Law.” The book, which was a real page-turner, along with a number of articles and interviews provided much good information for the article, and I’ll always be grateful for being given the incentive to learn about these remarkable women who sacrificed so much to make things better for other workers.

This is probably my only qualm with the film. As bad as things were depicted in the movie, the reality was much, much worse, and went on for a lot longer. It doesn’t really show the severity of the harassment, or how long the women endured it.  (And they leave out completely that Lois was stalked by one of her supervisors.) Nor does it show the true extent of the brutal treatment of the plaintiffs that went on in the courtrooms. From the time of her initial complaints filed with the Minnesota Human Rights Department, to the final decision by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, 14 years had passed. Plus, the Hollywoody-happy-ending is a very misleading as the lives of the women involved was irreparably changed for the worse, even though they won the case. Several of them, Lois Jenson included, were so damaged by post-traumatic stress disorder that they never worked again. The settlement was very modest. No one got “rich,” and strained relationships were not rosy, as the last scenes in the movie try to imply. (Although, Lois Jenson was signed to the “speakers circuit” this past year, so hopefully things are looking up for her.)

Ok, so much for my rant on filmmakers’ needs to sift the truth so that it fits into a 100-minute time frame, with an uplifting boost at the end.

That is was the first class action sexual harassment case is landmark because this had never been done before. There have been a number of cases since. In 1998, Mitsubishi’s agreement to pay $34 million is the biggest sexual-harassment settlement ever obtained by the U.S. government. Other cases have also followed J v. E: Long Prairie Meat-Packing (1st male-on-male class action) Astra USA, First Asset Management, General Motors, etc.

However, Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co. was also important in several other ways (which the movie’s sifting did not allow to be highlighted.) One of which involves the “discovery process” in litigation. This process is the pre-trial phase in a lawsuit during which each party can request documents and other evidence from other parties, or produce evidence by using a subpoena or through other discovery devices, such as requests for production and depositions During Jenson v. Eveleth, the plaintiffs suffered grueling depositions that “explored” their personal and sexual lives in such a way that one woman compared to a “rape. This was a common practice in sexual harassment cases, and still is to a certain degree—hence the popularity of the “nuts and sluts” approach by defendant’s lawyers. But the 8th Circuit Court’s decision strongly criticized the tactics of Eveleth’s lawyers, and this criticism has set a precedent that limits such tactics in subsequent suits. Still, this does not always affect the behavior of those who want to discredit a victim—companies or individuals may try to gain as much negative information about a complainant that they can as part of retaliation or backlash, despite what the law says. (If they can’t find it, they may try to manufacture it.) But thankfully, there are now some constraints within the court system.

Another important precedent was the court’s acknowledging that the treatment of sexual harassment plaintiffs during the litigation process can, in of itself, cause psychological damage and that this should be factored into damages awards if they win a suit.

I really don’t know how many times I’ve seen North Country now, or the documentary in the “Special Features” section of the DVD. (Check this out to hear about the other women who were right alongside Jenson throughout.) It’s not an “artistic” work, full of layers to explore and uncover. It’s just a straightforward story, so multiple views reveal no new surprises. But it’s so much like my own sexual harassment experience that it’s become an exercise in strength just to get to the end. Frankly, since that first viewing the movie theatre, I don’t think I’ve been able to sit through the film in its entirety, not once. I seem to only be able to stop and start the DVD, watching in bits and pieces over a day or two. And I always skip over the rape scene. I’m not sure what getting through the whole thing in one sitting again will prove to me, but it will prove something. (One woman posted in the “Open Discussion” at SHSF that she would not have been able to get through the book if she didn’t already know the women won the case.)

In the meantime, when I start up the DVD again, I’m always working towards one point in the film. It’s the final courtroom scene when that pale, frightened girl becomes the first to join the case and to help make it a class action. There is something about the actor’s expression of disbelief as she stands up that really resonates for me. Even before she stands up, she so obviously cannot believe she is about to do it. I think that this tiny bit of film is hugely symbolic of why the women in the true-life story were so amazing. The actor’s expression in that scene may be the only hint in the film as to the enormity of the sacrifice the women made to see that things were better for the rest of us. They were not special women, they were very ordinary, and they felt scared and alone. But they took on this huge task anyway, not out of revenge or the desire for profit, but because it was the right thing to do.

May we all find the courage to “stand up” for others as these women did, at least to some degree. What a world this would be we could.

If anyone has an Mp3 of the title song, I’d sure appreciate a copy. (grin)

To read more stories of sexual harassment => CLICK HERE