Anita Hill Asks, Has Workplace Changed?

University of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in this Oct. 11, 1991 file photo. Thrust briefly back in the spotlight by biting words in Thomas' new book, Hill now is trying to answer this question: Have things gotten better for women in the workplace? (AP Photo/John Duricka, file) (John Duricka - AP)

NEW YORK -- Back then, she was either a charlatan or a heroine, depending which side you took in the epic, gut-wrenching showdown that was the Clarence Thomas confirmation battle.

Sixteen years later, Anita Hill can be found on a tranquil New England college campus, sifting through thousands of documents to try to answer this question: Have things gotten any better in our nation's workplaces?

Hill was already at work on her project, examining some 25,000 pieces of correspondence she's received since those circuslike hearings, when she recently found herself in the spotlight again. Thomas had come out swinging in his new autobiography and accompanying media blitz, describing Hill _ whose sexual harassment allegations nearly derailed his Supreme Court nomination _ as rude, a mediocre worker, greedy, opportunistic, and of course, a liar.

Hill wrote an op-ed article standing by her claims. She did the same on "Good Morning America." And now, she says, she wants to move beyond the old he-said, she-said questions to more substantive ones.

"What I want to know is whether we've made progress in the last 16 years," Hill said in a telephone interview from suburban Boston, where she's a visiting scholar at Wellesley College, on leave from her permanent appointment at Brandeis. "I do hear from people who say things in the workplace have improved. And I think that's significant.

"But what's behind it, I don't know. Is it a fear of litigation, or is it because employers want to do the right thing? And if they're doing it right, does it really matter?"

Hill acknowledges her guarded optimism is based on anecdotal information. Ask lawyers in the field of sexual harassment whether things have actually gotten better, and you'll get a decidedly mixed answer.

"Yes and no," says Kathleen Peratis, a prominent employment and discrimination lawyer in New York. "Employers are much more sensitive about it, and much more worried about it. But it's from a liability point of view. They don't understand that the root problem is gender discrimination.

"They address the superficial conduct. More important would be to address the underlying imbalances in the power relationship."

Peratis notes it's extremely difficult to know how many cases get resolved satisfactorily, because the vast majority get settled out of court, with binding confidentiality orders. We only hear about the tiny percentage that actually make it to trial.

One high-profile case that did: that of Anucha Browne Sanders, the fired New York Knicks executive who recently won an $11.6 million judgment against the team and coach Isaiah Thomas, whom she accused of calling her degrading names and making unwanted advances. She said she hoped her victory would be a "wake-up call" to employers across the nation.

But lawyers say the Sanders case was fairly unique _ the plaintiff was a well-paid executive who had the resources to pursue her claim to the end. "Most cases involve secretaries or other individuals without power in an organization," says Antonia Kousoulas, an employment lawyer in New York. "Seldom is it a high-ranking executive."