Telling Stories Out of Court: Narratives about Women and Workplace Discrimination

Published by Cornell University Press 2008

Telling Stories Out of Court

Narratives about Women and Workplace Discrimination

Edited by: Ruth O'Brien
Preface by: Liza Featherstone

https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501724459

Overview
Contents

About this book

"Few of the countless real-life stories of workplace discrimination suffered by men and women every day are ever told publicly. This book boldly and eloquently rights that wrong, going where no plaintiff testimony could ever dare because these stories are often too raw, honest, ambiguous, and nuanced to be told in court or reported in a newspaper."—from the Foreword

Telling Stories Out of Court reaches readers on both an intellectual and an emotional level, helping them to think about, feel, and share the experiences of women who have faced sexism and discrimination at work. It focuses on how the federal courts interpreted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Offering insights that law texts alone cannot, the short stories collected here—all but two written for this volume—help readers concentrate on the emotional content of the experience with less emphasis on the particulars of the law. Grouped into thematic parts titled "In Their Proper Place," "Unfair Treatment," "Sexual Harassment," and "Hidden Obstacles," the narratives are combined with interpretive commentary and legal analysis that anchor the book by revealing the impact this revolutionary law had on women in the workplace.

At the same time, the stories succeed on their own terms as compelling works of fiction, from "LaKeesha's Job Interview," in which a woman's ambition to move from welfare to work faces an ironic obstacle, to "Plato, Again," in which a woman undergoing treatment for cancer finds her career crumble under her, to "Vacation Days," which takes the reader inside the daily routine of a nanny who works at the whim of her employer.

Author / Editor information

O'Brien Ruth :

Ruth O'Brien is Professor and Executive Officer of the Political Science PhD Program at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her books include Telling Stories Out of Court, from Cornell; Bodies in Revolt: Gender, Disability, and a Workplace Ethic of Care; Voices from the Edge: Narratives about the Americans with Disabilities Act; and Crippled Justice: The History of Modern Disability Policy in the Workplace.Featherstone Liza :

Liza Featherstone is a journalist and the author of Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers' Rights at Wal-Mart.

Reviews

Joanna L. Grossman, Hofstra University School of Law:

"Telling Stories Out of Court combines gripping fiction with expert legal commentary to expose the law and everyday realities of workplace discrimination. This unique and wonderful collection gives voice to the experience of discrimination, while simultaneously illustrating how much the law has accomplished and how much is yet to be done."

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Foreword Liza Featherstone Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Introduction Ruth O’Brien Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
In Their Proper Place
Dream Man Susan Oard Warrner Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	21
Lakeesha' S Job Interview Bebe Moore Campbell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
Games Women Play Achim Nowak Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	34
Gender Roles Risa L. Lieberwitz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	40
Unfair Treatment
Getting Even Harriet Kriegel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
Trading Patients C. G. K. Atkins Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	68
Flint Ellen Dannin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	80
Bad Intentions Risa L. Lieberwitz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	90
Sexual Harassment
Plato, Again Stephen Kuusisto Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
Be Who You Are Aurelie Sheehan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	116
Hwang's Missing Hand Eileen Pollack Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	130
Sexual Harassment Gaining Respect And Equality Risa L. Lieberwitz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	146
Hidden Obstacles
Artifact Catherine Lewis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
Final Cut Kristen Iversen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	176
Vacation Days Alice Elliott Dark Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	192
It's All In The Numbers The Toll Discrimination Takes Risa L. Lieberwitz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	198
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	213
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 264
Keywords: Social Work; Poetry & Criticism

eBook

Published: September 5, 2018
ISBN: 9781501724459