Hostile Advances | |
---|---|
Also known as | Hostile Advances: The Kerry Ellison Story |
Written by | Layce Gardner |
Directed by | Allan Kroeker |
Starring | Rena Sofer Victor Garber Karen Allen |
Music by | Micky Erbe Maribeth Solomon |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producers | Diana Kerew Carol Trussell |
Producers | Julian Marks Clara George |
Cinematography | François Protat |
Editor | Jane Morrison |
Running time | 90 minutes |
Production companies | The Diana Kerew Company Hearst Entertainment |
Original release | |
Network | Lifetime |
Release | May 27, 1996 |
Hostile Advances: The Kerry Ellison Story is a 1996 American made-for-television drama film based on Ellison v. Brady, a landmark sexual harassment case. This lawsuit set the precedent for the "reasonable woman" standard in sexual harassment law which allows for cases to be analyzed from the perspective of the complainant and not the defendant.[ citation needed ] The movie stars Rena Sofer and is directed by Allan Kroeker. Written by Layce Gardner and produced for Lifetime Television.
Kerry Ellison (Rena Sofer) has a good job at an office of the Internal Revenue Service. She is happy. All goes well, until Jack Gilcrest (Victor Garber) develops an interest in her. He starts stalking her—following her, and writing her sexually tense notes. Kerry makes it clear multiple times that she is not interested in him. Even when Kerry is transferred to another division, Jack's stalking does not diminish. He returns and threatens Kerry so much, she begins to get anxiety attacks. Kerry's bosses dismiss Jack's obsession as harmless, and her labor union refuses to deal with the problem. Kerry files a sexual harassment suit against her employers, who subsequently put her through hell.
Anita Faye Hill is an American lawyer, educator and author. She is a professor of social policy, law, and women's studies at Brandeis University and a faculty member of the university's Heller School for Social Policy and Management. She became a national figure in 1991 when she accused U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, her supervisor at the United States Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, of sexual harassment.
In United States labor law, a hostile work environment exists when one's behavior within a workplace creates an environment that is difficult or uncomfortable for another person to work in, due to illegal discrimination. However, a working environment that is unpleasant and frightening for the victim due to sexual advances that have been denied by the victim, is what constitutes hostile work environment sexual harassment. Common complaints in sexual harassment lawsuits include fondling, suggestive remarks, sexually-suggestive photos displayed in the workplace, use of sexual language, or off-color jokes. Small matters, annoyances, and isolated incidents are usually not considered to be statutory violations of the discrimination laws. For a violation to impose liability, the conduct must create a work environment that would be intimidating, hostile, or offensive to a reasonable person. An employer can be held liable for failing to prevent these workplace conditions, unless it can prove that it attempted to prevent the harassment and that the employee failed to take advantage of existing harassment counter-measures or tools provided by the employer.
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