a biography of the day--anita hill
12 oct 1991 anita hill takes oath before testifying at thomas' confirmation hearing)
Anita Hill
Anita Faye Hill (born July 30, 1956) is an American attorney and academic, currently a professor of social policy, law and women's studies at Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management.[2] She became a national figure in 1991 when she alleged that U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had made harassing sexual statements when he was her supervisor at the U.S. Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.[3] Though Thomas was confirmed and took a seat on the Court, Hill's testimony focused national attention on the issue of workplace sexual harassment.[3][4]
. . . .
Thomas was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by then-President George H. W. Bush, a position that required Senate hearings and confirmation. The hearings were initially completed,[11] with Thomas's good character being presented as a primary qualification for the high court because he had only been a judge for slightly more than one year.[12] There had been little organized opposition to Thomas's nomination and his confirmation seemed assured[12] until a report of a private interview of Hill by the FBI leaked out to the press.[11][13] The hearings were then reopened, and Hill was called to publicly testify.[11][13] Hill said in the October 1991 televised hearings that Thomas had sexually harassed her while he was her supervisor at the Department of Education and the EEOC. When questioned on why she followed Thomas to the second job after he had already allegedly harassed her, she said she had wanted to work in the civil rights field, she had no alternative job, "and at that time, it appeared that the sexual overtures ... had ended."[5]
According to Hill, during her two years of employment as Thomas's assistant, Thomas had asked her out socially many times,[7] and after she refused, he used work situations to discuss sexual subjects.[5][7] "He spoke about...such matters as women having sex with animals and films showing group sex or rape scenes" she said, adding that on several occasions Thomas graphically described "his own sexual prowess" and the details of his anatomy.[5] Hill also recounted an instance in which Thomas examined a can of Coke on his desk and asked, "Who has put pubic hair on my Coke?"[5]
Four female witnesses waited in the wings to reportedly support Hill's credibility, but they were not called,[13][14] due to what the Los Angeles Times described as private, compromise deal between "aggressive, gloves-off" Republicans and the Senate Judiciary Committee Chair, Democrat Joe Biden.[15] According to Time magazine, one of the witnesses, Angela Wright, may not have been considered credible on the issue of sexual harassment because she had been fired from the EEOC by Thomas.[14]
. . . .
In October 2010, Thomas's wife Virginia, a conservative activist, left a voicemail at Hill's office asking that Hill apologize for her 1991 testimony. Hill initially believed the call was a hoax and referred the matter to the Brandeis University campus police who alerted the FBI.[18][30] After being informed that the call was indeed from Virginia Thomas, Hill told the media that she did not believe the message was meant to be conciliatory and said, "I testified truthfully about my experience and I stand by that testimony."[18] Virginia Thomas responded that the call had been intended as an "olive branch".[18]
. . . .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Hill
= new reply since forum marked as read
