On July 6, 2016, Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit against her former employer Fox News and started a national conversation about sexual harassment in the workplace.
Carlson spoke at the 25th Annual Tampa Bay Times of Reading Festival at USF St. Petersburg on Saturday about her personal experiences with sexual harassment, gave advice on how to report harassment, and discussed her new book, Be Fierce: Stop Harassment and Take Your Power Back.
“When I jumped off that cliff by myself on July 6, 2016, I could have had no way of knowing what would be below,” Carlson stated in reference to her filing her lawsuit.
Carlson continued, “The idea that that one leap has quite possibly led to a tsunami of women coming forward and having the courage and bravery within to say ‘me too’ is the most heartening experience of my life.”
During her talk, Carlson revealed that she had not only been sexually harassed at Fox News; she had also been a victim multiple times during the beginnings of her career when she was starting out after her stint as Miss America and trying to find her next career move. She had written those experiences off, not knowing that she had been harassed and assaulted until discussing it with close friends.
When asked why she decided to take action in July 2016, Carlson explained, “My American dream was going to end for me at that particular place and it wasn’t my choice; it was being ended for me. If I didn’t speak up, who would?”
By speaking out, women from around the country began writing Carlson letters, detailing their own harrowing experiences with sexual harassment in their occupations. Carlson said that it was then that she realized that this was a problem in not just show business, but that sexual harassment was a cross-occupational issue.
These women who wrote to Carlson had three common messages. The first being, “thanks for being a voice to the voiceless,” meaning that many women who were victims of sexual harassment in the workplace were silenced and unable to discuss their situations. As a public figure, Carlson was able to use her voice to bring this issue to the media.
The second being that they felt a sense of victory. Many women who reported their claims were unsuccessful in getting any sort of consolation for their ordeal. With Carlson’s lawsuit, she was fighting against this big machine of a company in order to stand up for herself and others, and she received a settlement and a public apology.
Lastly, and most shocking to the audience members, almost all of the women who wrote to Carlson about their experiences had no longer been able to work in their chosen profession again.
Carlson herself has been away from her occupation in television and journalism since filing her lawsuit almost a year and a half ago. However, she plans to change that in the coming months. Details were sparse, but she mentioned she was working on a project set for next spring.