On Oct.

5, 2017, the New York Times published an article

detailing allegations of sexual harassment against Harvey
Weinstein from multiple women who had worked under him. In
the months that followed, more and more women began to
come
forward with allegations of sexual misconduct in the workplace.

In 2006, Burke founded the #metoo movement and began

using the phrase "#metoo" to raise awareness of the
pervasiveness of sexual abuse and assault in society.
The phrase "#metoo" developed into a broader
movement following the 2017 use of #MeToo as a hashtag
following the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations. In
October 2017, actress Alyssa Milano encouraged women to
say "#metoo" if they've experienced sexual harassment or
assault, and the hashtag became popular. Milano quickly
acknowledged Burke's earlier use of the phrase on Twitter,
writing "I was just made aware of an earlier #MeToo movement,
and the origin story is equal parts heartbreaking and
inspiring". Burke has been supportive of the #MeToo hashtag

When these allegations broke in October, they triggered a

cascading national reckoning over sexual harassment and
assault in the workplace and beyond. In the weeks since,
women have leveled charges against many high-profile men in
entertainment, media, business, and politics. As the
accusations continue to erupt through the burgeoning #MeToo
social media movement, many observers are wondering if the
nation is finally beginning to deal with gender inequity.

The phrase "#metoo" when tweeted had been used more than
200,000 times by the end of the day. It was also tweeted more
than 500,000 times by October 16 and the hashtag was used
by more than 4.7 million people in 12 million posts during the
first 24 hours on Facebook. The platform reported 45% of users
in the United States had a friend who had posted using the
term.
Tens of thousands of people, including hundreds of celebrities,
replied with #MeToo stories. Some men, such as actors Terry
Crews and James Van Der Beek, have responded to the
hashtag with their own experiences of harassment and abuse.
Others have responded by acknowledging past behaviors
against women, spawning the hashtag #HowIWillChange.

BACKLASH OF METOO MOVEMENT

In early 2018 the group began a study to determine whether
their fears were founded. They created two surveys—one for
men and one for women—and distributed them to workers in a
wide range of industries, collecting data from 152 men and 303
women in all.
The study’s biggest surprise has to do with backlash.
Respondents said they expected to see some positive effects
of the #MeToo movement: For instance, 74% of women said
they thought they would be more willing now to speak out
against harassment, and 77% of men anticipated being more
careful about potentially inappropriate behavior. But more than
10% of both men and women said they thought they would be
less willing than previously to hire attractive women. Twenty-
two percent of men and 44% of women predicted that men
would be more apt to exclude women from social interactions,
such as after-work drinks; and nearly one in three men thought
they would be reluctant to have a one-on-one meeting with a
woman. Fifty-six percent of women said they expected that
men would continue to harass but would take more precautions
against getting caught, and 58% of men predicted that men, in
general, would have greater fears of being unfairly accused.
Because the data was collected soon after the #MeToo
movement gained momentum, and because much of it focused
on expectations, the researchers conducted a follow-up survey
(with different people) in early 2019. This revealed a bigger
backlash than respondents had anticipated. For instance, 19%
of men said they were reluctant to hire attractive women, 21%
said they were reluctant to hire women for jobs involving close
interpersonal interactions with men (jobs involving travel, say),
and 27% said they avoided one-on-one meetings with female
colleagues; only one of those numbers was lower in 2019 than
the numbers projected the year before. The researchers say
that some of the behaviors are manifestations of what is
sometimes called the Mike Pence rule—a reference to the U.S.
vice president’s refusal to dine with female colleagues unless
his wife is present.

POSITIVE IMPACT OF THE MOVEMENT

The advent of the #MeToo movement and the resulting national

conversation about the American workplace have given
employers the opportunity to positively and clearly redefine the
boundaries of acceptable workplace conduct and to expand the
channels of communication with employees.
In response to the #MeToo movement, we are witnessing a
significant and swift uptick in the rate at which companies are
implementing anti-harassment and anti-discrimination
training; revamping policies governing employee conduct, both
in and out of the office; expanding reporting procedures for
inappropriate behavior; dedicating additional resources for
investigations; reviewing protocols for responding to complaints
of inappropriate conduct, and re-evaluating practices for
imposing disciplinary action in response to misconduct.
Employers of all sizes across a wide array of industries
consistently turn to Kramer Levin’s Employment Law team for
counsel, guidance, and support in navigating this complex and
ever-changing landscape. In the #MeToo era, few legal
precedents exist from which to draw. With a long-standing
reputation for interpreting and addressing contemporary
employment issues, our lawyers help shape conversations and
create opportunities for employers and employees alike in
these challenging and unprecedented times.
CONCLUSION

The #metoo movement has made a significant impact on the

conversation about sexual harassment and sexual abuse
around the world and Social media played a crucial role in the
development of this movement. Social media also helped
enhance the movement as it began to take more physical
forms, particularly in protests and speeches. The #metoo
slogan began to appear on physical signs in protests, and the
hashtag was continuously used to support later events such as
The Women’s March, Oprah Winfrey’s Golden Globes Speech,
and the My Stealthy Freedom movement in Iran.
Despite its criticisms, the #metoo movement has undoubtedly
brought to attention the widespread effects of sexual abuse.
The implications of the movement continue today, with
numerous sexual assault cases still pending and more women
and men stepping out to share their stories.