Abstract
This thesis examines the strike that resultedfrom the 1979 case of sexual discrimination filed by Toni Lee Gilbertson against the Simpson Timber Company in Shelton, Washington. The thesis explores the responses of Gilbertson, the Washington State bureau of the Economic Employment Opportunity Commission, The International Woodworkers Association Local 3-38, Simpson Timber Company and to a lesser extent, the town of Shelton, Washington, to the new emerging legality: the illegality of the sexual harassment of women in the workplace. A wide variety of sources are used in this project. Primary sources include the case of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Simpson Timber Company, Civil Action No. C79-51 OT local newsletters, standing committee minutes and newspaper accounts. Secondary sources such as monographs and journal articles provide the background and context for the subject. The case of Toni Lee Gilbertson is representative of the actions taken by women beginning in the 1970s who were determined to address the ancient scourge of the sexual harassment of working women. Gilbertson 's case pushed the Washington bureau of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to protect American women 's legal right to a harassment-free workplace under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Where the rights of women union workers had conflicted with the notion of male entitlement, male dominated unions, including the International Woodworkers ofAmerica, Shelton Local 3-38, were slow to grasp and act upon the insidiousness of the harassment of women laborers. Simpson Timber Companyfound the challenge to its workplace environment unacceptable and acted as such in its efforts to squelch the sexual harassment complaint. Like many small towns across America, Shelton was finding its way in a changing world where traditional notions of women 's place were being redefined by a new generation of women demanding not only equality at home, but in the workplace as well.