Legal Advocacy

Text Box: School District, is protected under the anti-retaliation provisions 704 (a) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act after she cooperated with her employer's internal investigation of sexual harassment and then was dismissed from her job. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit found that Ms. Crawford did not have such protection, and if the ruling is upheld, it will set a bad precedent for future sexual harassment cases. It is crucial that AAUW convince the Supreme Court to reject the overly narrow interpretation of the court and protect employees such as Ms. Crawford under Title VII's anti-retaliation provision. The "amicus" brief AAUW is signing onto will present social science research that demonstrated that psychological and social factors pressure victims of sexual harassment to discount and remain silent about the discrimination. AAUW Visits University of Missouri, St. Louis, to Discuss Sexual Harassment Policies In March AAUW staff visited the campus of

Text Box: the University of Missouri, St. Louis, as a follow-up to a November visit. AAUW Executive Director Linda Hallman and AAUW Director of Public Policy and Governments Relations Lisa Maatz participated in various LAF-related campus outreach programs based on AAUW's 2006 research report "Drawing the Line: Sexual Harassment on Campus. They discussed concrete ideas to combat sexual harassment on campus and moderated a roundtable where equal opportunity and human rights directors from campuses in the area discussed the topic: "Sexual Harassment on Campus:strategies for addressing, sharing best practices, and sharing federal regulatory information and AAUW resources." Hallman also gave the keynote speech addressing related public policy advocacy issues at a campus luncheon.

Text Box: LAF Book Sale Please bring your gently-used books and other media items to the branch luncheon meeting May 24 at Corvallis Country Club. Be prepared to purchase lots of books, etc. for your summer leisure time. For more details see Page 1 of this newsletter. New Directions for LAF LAF has undergone both staff and programmatic transitions. Holly Kearl is the new LAF Program Manager, working under the supervision of Jill Birdwhistell, PhD, Chief of Strategic Advancement. Serveral key LAF program decisions were made recently by the Board of Directors. Check out the June newsletter for the changes. AAUW Signs onto New Amicus Brief In March AAUW signed onto an "amicus curiae" brief (friend of the court) for the case Crawford v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, TN. In this case, the U.S. Supreme Court will examine whether Vicky Crawford, an employee of the Nashville Metro

By LAF Liaison

Marilyn Roland

rolandm2@comcast.net