Finally, workplace abuse under fire

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This article was published 28/10/2017 (2958 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Another day, another accusation of sexual abuse.

While depressing on its face, that statement reveals an unexpected silver lining stemming from the media circus generated by the downfall of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Since Mr. Weinstein’s decades of sexual harassment were dragged into the spotlight by the New York Times on Oct. 5, barely a day has gone by without another woman stepping forward to level fresh allegations of abuse against the producer.

At last count, some 50 women claiming sexual harassment and at least another half-dozen alleging sexual assault have stepped forward to share their stories of mistreatment at the hands of a man who used his position of power to entrap young actresses.

More importantly, perhaps, since Mr. Weinstein’s extremely public downfall, barely a day has gone by without another complainant — mostly women, but some men as well — going public with allegations of sexual harassment against other powerful men.

The Weinstein scandal has not only intensified the debate on violence against women, but opened the door to an avalanche of harassment allegations, some of them decades in the making.

On Thursday, NBC suspended commentator Mark Halperin after CNN reported on the claims of five women who said the prominent political journalist — co-author of the best-selling book Game Change — harassed them while he was an ABC News executive.

In Quebec, two key players on the entertainment scene have been caught in the widening dragnet. Comedy impresario Gilbert Rozon, a man with the power to make or break careers, resigned as president of Just for Laughs after Le Devoir published accusations from nine women of predatory sexual behaviour by the province’s comedy king.

Quebec media star Eric Salvail was suspended from his professional activities Wednesday after Montreal’s La Presse published a story with allegations from 11 people who said he either sexually harassed them or witnessed such behaviour by him. One accuser, makeup artist Marco Berardini, said he went public with allegations of unwanted harassment after dozens of women spoke out against Mr. Weinstein.

In the wake of Weinstein, an estimated 200 women, including film stars Rachel McAdams and Selma Blair, have gone public with claims of sexual abuse at the hands of filmmaker James Toback. Indeed, 38 women described their interactions with Mr. Toback to the Los Angeles Times, detailing how he allegedly sexually harassed and/or assaulted employees, potential employees and women he met on the street.

Even a pair of celebrity chefs have been burned by the spotlight.

In Ottawa, chef Matthew Carmichael, 46, apologized after admitting to sexually harassing an unspecified number of women with inappropriate comments.

In New Orleans, John Besh, one of the city’s most celebrated chefs, stepped down from the company he founded amid harassment allegations against him and other male employees. Nine current and former employees went public with allegations of a hostile corporate culture where sexual harassment flourished.

It is no coincidence these cases are coming to light now.

The Weinstein scandal has helped create an environment in which some of the victims of powerful men finally feel safe in coming forward, believing that, at long last, their voices will not only be heard, but believed.

While society may not have reached the point where such crimes will no longer occur, corporate sexual predators have been put on notice: it is no longer business as usual.