The #MeToo movement successfully challenged decades of pervasive sexual harassment in the workplace and all facets of society. Since then, the movement's impact has reverbated throughout society, changing attitudes and spurring much-needed change. Workers, consumers, and citizens involved in the movement have not only held corporations and employers accountable for enabling sexual misconduct, but have also lobbied for legal reforms to effect meaningful social change.

The #MeToo Movement has inspired workers to engage in solidarity with colleagues experiencing sexual harassment, and many of these courageous acts entitle individuals to anti-retaliation protections under civil rights, anti-discrimination, labor, and whistleblower protection laws. While it is true that individuals targeted for abuse in the workplace bear the brunt of the dignitary harm and trauma caused by such misconduct, all employees are detrimentally impacted by sexual harassment in the workplace, as  reports prepared by an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) task force and by Deloitte both discuss. As such, all employees have a moral (and at times, legal) obligation to stand by our colleagues and against harassment and discrimination.

None of us are defined by a single trait or characteristic, and many individuals share more than one class of traits that may make them targets of legally prohibited discrimination or harassment. Indeed, as the #MeToo Movement has reminded us, perpetrators of sexual harassment may be more likely to target individuals with multiple protected traits, including people with disabilities and people of color, for abuse.

Judges are increasingly recognizing these forms of “intersectional” discrimination and harassment in cases involving plaintiffs whose claims are based on their membership in more than one protected class. 

Sexual harassment at work or on campus is all too common. But when a disabled employee or student is the target of discrimination and abuse because of two protected traits, the effect on that individual can be devasting and traumatic.