That's all right, Betty.
How about a little kiss?
Narrator: The first time anyone ever published
the words "sexual harassment"
wasn't until 1975.
Gloria Allred: When I was in the workplace in the '60s
before becoming an attorney,
I just knew that sexual harassment
was something that women were suffering
in the workplace. But I didn't know anyone
who was doing anything about it
because they didn't know that they had a right
to do anything about it.
And for a long time, they didn't have any right
to do anything about it.
Narrator: Since then, we've gone from this ...
Behave yourself, Mr. Bond.
Narrator: ... to this.
Joe Biden: Professor, do you swear
to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth,
so help you God?
Anita Hill: I do.
Clarence Thomas: I deny each and every single allegation against me today.
Narrator: And more recently, this.
Reporter: The list goes on and on
of famous, powerful men
who've lost their jobs recently
because of allegations of sexual misconduct
in the workplace.
Donald Trump: And when you're a star, they let you do it.
You can do anything.
Trump: Grab them by the p---y.
John Roberts: Raise your right hand and repeat after me.
Allred: I think what we have
is evolution rather than revolution.
Narrator: We sat down with a pioneer
in the women's rights movement
to talk about where we are in that evolution.
Allred: This entire year has been the winter
of our discontent,
but it has also been the year
of our awakening. And awake we are.
Narrator: We also asked her about the more controversial parts
of her approach.
Reporter: The jury awarded her
more than $4 million in damage.
Narrator: Like secret settlements
and eye-popping payouts
that she says are essential,
but that have earned her many critics.
Allred: Of course I believe in the cause of women's rights
and to be able to have a workplace free
of sexual harassment.
I will take the heat from people
who want to criticize me for helping women
to enter into settlements.
But it is not my job to sacrifice my clients to a cause,
even a cause to which I firmly believe
and for which I have advocated my entire life.
Crowd: Say it clear!
Kavanaugh's not welcome here!
We believe Christine Ford!
We believe Anita Hill!
Narrator: Even in the wake of the #MeToo movement,
when thousands of women and some men went public
with stories of abuse,
the disillusionment can be very real.
Allred: For younger women especially,
they are even more disappointed
than women of my generation
because they actually expect to be treated equally
and to be free of sexual harassment.
First of all, what constitutes sexual harassment?
Firstly, what is sexual harassment?
I didn't know if that was harassment.
What do you think you're doing?
One we call hostile work environment.
The other is quid pro quo.
Allred: Sexual harassment is what the courts say it is.
And that has been evolving over the years.
I do think that later,
there became a cultural definition
that may not be the same as the legal definition.
Whoopi Goldberg: #MeToo and the Time's Up movements are getting more complicated.
Megan McCain: Now we're heading into this territory
where I feel like the goalposts are being moved.
Narrator: And somewhere in between those legal
and cultural definitions sits the corporate approach,
and the harassment training videos
we've become so familiar with.
Man: Oh!
Did I do that?
Oh, I am sorry.
Woman: It's nothing, don't bother.
Voice-over: If he doesn't stop, I'll scream.
Narrator: But as long as harassment is still a problem,
Gloria believes non-disclosure agreements, or NDAs,
should continue to play a role for victims.
They never told their mother or their sister
or their dad or their husband or their brother
or their kids about it,
and they don't want them to know.
And they don't want the community to know
for fear that that might hurt them
in getting their next job.
Are you going to protect yourselves and your futures?
Narrator: But that puts her at odds
with many advocates fighting gender-based harassment
and assault as a systemic issue.
They warn that NDAs enable bad behavior
by keeping it secret.
Maybe they didn't like a joke I told,
and let me just --
Each time it happens,
he puts a chunk of money on the table
and then forces the woman to agree
to wear a muzzle for the rest of her life.
There are politicians who grandstand
and now are in progress of limiting women's rights,
limiting settlements
that might have confidentiality clauses.
Narrator: When the state
of California outlawed settlements
that would keep victims silent on felony sex offenses,
many saw it as a leap forward.
Not Gloria.
Allred: Their choice has been taken away from them
by the accused sexual predator.
They might be able to obtain millions of dollars
to help them to go on with their lives.
Victims should have a choice.
Narrator: She says it's companies
that need to take more responsibility.
Allred: It's not enough to train your employees
not to sexually harass.
It's important for businesses also
to monitor their workplaces,
and that's sometimes where it all breaks down.
Narrator: By 1980, when Dolly Parton's
"9 to 5" hit theaters ...
Dolly Parton: I put up with all your pinching and staring
and chasing me around the desk
because I need this job.
But this is the last straw.
Narrator: ... there was a name
for this kind of behavior.
A few years later,
the courts began to give it a legal framework.
Allred: The Meritor case was 1986,
which is really considered the landmark case.
Narrator: Mechelle Vinson sued the bank where she worked,
saying she'd been repeatedly harassed
and raped by her supervisor.
Sexual harassment was not considered an illegal form
of workplace discrimination under any US law,
at least not yet.
Allred: They laid out, in a sense, a blueprint,
guidance through their opinion
about what is necessary
to prove sexual harassment.
Narrator: A new idea was starting to gain traction.
Unwanted pervasive behavior based
on someone's gender could be a violation
of their civil rights.
Biden: Judge, would you stand to be sworn.
Narrator: Five years later, another milestone:
the 1991 confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas.
Allred: At that hearing, which by the way
was chaired by Sen. Biden ...
Hill: I do. Biden: Thank you.
Allred: ... Anita Hill testified
that Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her
when he was her supervisor.
Hill: He spoke about acts that he had seen
in pornographic films involving such matters
as women having sex with animals.
Thomas: I deny that I had conversations
of a sexual nature with Anita Hill.
Allred: That's when the country really focused on,
what is sexual harassment in the workplace?
Does it matter?
Here, what we had was Clarence Thomas being elevated,
essentially promoted to a new job ...
Thomas: So help me God.
Allred: ... becoming a justice on the United States Supreme Court.
The country learned that even though it exists,
sexual harassment in the workplace,
there doesn't seem to be penalty for it,
at least not in the political world.
Narrator: But corporate America was listening.
By 1997, according to the Harvard Business Review,
three-quarters of American companies had some kind
of mandatory harassment training in place.
Woman: It makes it easier if you just kind
of chuckle at their stupid little jokes
or if you pretend not to notice
the way their eyes wander around you.
Now they call it sexual harassment.
Hell, it happened so much,
I used to call it going to work.
Narrator: Then, decades later,
another famous example of a Supreme Court judge confirmed
despite testimony that riveted the nation ...
Christine Blasey Ford: Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes.
I believed he was going to rape me.
Narrator: ... nominated by a president
who has been publicly accused by dozens of women.
He then grabbed my shoulder
and began kissing me again very aggressively
and placed his hand on my breast.
Allred: So many women have come forward
and alleged that they were sexually assaulted by him.
But, of course, Trump seemed to be rewarded for that.
Trump: ... the office of president of the United States.
Allred: But in this case of President Trump,
it's had both legal and political consequences,
and cultural consequences.
So it's really been a teaching moment.
We are going to resist.
We are going to insist,
We are going to persist.
Narrator: Starting in 2017,
a litany of powerful men have been pulled
from their perches.
One in particular proved complicated
for Gloria when news surfaced
that her law firm had drawn up many
of the NDA settlements
that had kept allegations against Harvey Weinstein out
of the public view for many years.
Ashley Matthau, one of the victims
who'd been represented
by Gloria's firm, later criticized this approach
when talking to The New York Times.
Ashley Matthau: Harvey offered like a $125,000 settlement.
They wanted me to talk
about Harvey in, like, a good light,
and, you know, he was a great person to work for.
Now, knowing what I know,
I don't think they're right.
I think it makes the assaulter able
to do it to other people and hide it.
Allred: It appears to me
that Mr. Weinstein's public-relations machine
is working overtime.
Narrator: Many women's right advocates were furious.
But Gloria insists that she did not silence women.
Allred: Even though some victims entered
into settlement agreements
with Mr. Weinstein,
and even though there might have been
non-disclosure agreements,
they had a right to go to the police
and file a police report,
and to ask that criminal charges be brought
about what happened to them.
Narrator: Her critics also point
to the massive sums she often wins for her clients.
You think some of them are lying?
Absolutely.
Wherever you see Gloria Allred,
you know somebody's lying.
Narrator: But according to Gloria,
hefty financial penalties can make a difference.
Allred: Last year, our law firm won the largest verdict
for one victim of sexual harassment.
We won for our client $58,250,000.
Women like Ms. Khan are no longer willing
to suffer in silence.
Employers now have more than 58 million reasons
to take action to make sure that their workplace
is free of sexual harassment.
That case has inspired many victims
of sexual harassment to contact us.
This is part of the evolution
of the #MeToo movement.
Narrator: At the end of our interview,
I came back to the question of whether victims
should be encouraged to speak out,
rather than kept silent.
I told her that I still feel guilty
for keeping quiet after an incident
that happened to me decades ago.
Allred: Well, I'm not a person who believes
that guilt is something that should be imposed on victims.
They don't have a legal responsibility to go public.
I don't believe they have a moral responsibility
to sacrifice their privacy and go public.
Their obligation is to act in their own self-interest.