"North Country" was a fictional dramatization of a true story. It was about the first successful class action sexual harassment suit against an employer. The real woman who went after her employer was Lois Jenson and the real employer was Eveleth Taconite Company.
I want to thank the good men of Eveleth Taconite for being such pigs that they drove a woman to sue the company for sexual harassment, thereby setting a nationwide precedent and getting sexual harassment laws put in place. Take a bow men of Eveleth Taconite Company.
This dramatized version of the event starred Charlize Theron as Josey Aimes. She was a single mother of two who'd just left an abusive relationship and needed to earn money to take care of her kids. Her friend Glory (Frances McDormand) told her about Pearson's Mines that was hiring. Though women had begun working in the mines in 1975, by 1989 (the time period of this movie) there existed a very chauvinistic, foul, and dare I say, toxic male culture.
Josey found herself the frequent victim of verbal and physical abuse as well as lewd and vile behavior. The more she complained, the more the attacks would increase upon her and the other women at the mines. Her complaints only fell on deaf ears, even when she went to the owner of the mines, Mr. Pearson (James Cada). Eventually, Josey lawyered up and got to suing.
"North Country" was a spectacular movie that showed, yet again, the importance of courts in a society. There will always be bad actors and as long as there is a recourse through the legal process, wrongs can be righted without bloodshed. But even with the legal system we have in place, it takes brave individuals like Josey Aimes to take that bold step towards that arduous battle against the perpetrator(s) of that wrong.
I want to thank the good men of Eveleth Taconite for being such pigs that they drove a woman to sue the company for sexual harassment, thereby setting a nationwide precedent and getting sexual harassment laws put in place. Take a bow men of Eveleth Taconite Company.
This dramatized version of the event starred Charlize Theron as Josey Aimes. She was a single mother of two who'd just left an abusive relationship and needed to earn money to take care of her kids. Her friend Glory (Frances McDormand) told her about Pearson's Mines that was hiring. Though women had begun working in the mines in 1975, by 1989 (the time period of this movie) there existed a very chauvinistic, foul, and dare I say, toxic male culture.
Josey found herself the frequent victim of verbal and physical abuse as well as lewd and vile behavior. The more she complained, the more the attacks would increase upon her and the other women at the mines. Her complaints only fell on deaf ears, even when she went to the owner of the mines, Mr. Pearson (James Cada). Eventually, Josey lawyered up and got to suing.
"North Country" was a spectacular movie that showed, yet again, the importance of courts in a society. There will always be bad actors and as long as there is a recourse through the legal process, wrongs can be righted without bloodshed. But even with the legal system we have in place, it takes brave individuals like Josey Aimes to take that bold step towards that arduous battle against the perpetrator(s) of that wrong.