Anita Hill: Time Women Use Class Actions to Disrupt Tech Industry

The tech industry refuses to "police itself" when it comes to discrimination against women, meaning it's time for women to use the law to force change, Anita Hill wrote in a column for The New York Times.

Specifically, class actions, Hill wrote.

"We can't afford to wait for the tech industry to police itself — and there are few indications that it will ever do so," Hill wrote, reacting to the leaked memo out of Google that slammed the company's diversity initiatives.

"Instead, women in the industry should collectively consider their legal options. Top among these would be class-action discrimination cases against employers," Hill wrote.

Hill, still best remembered for her claims of sexual harassment against Clarence Thomas during his 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearing, says Silicon Valley is just the latest "boys club" that needs disruption in order to exact "industrywide correction."

Hill cites the case of Wall Street, where rampant sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the ‘90s led to an industry where women are now advancing into leadership roles.

Though not perfect, the lesson of Wall Street shows "class-action lawsuits can force industrywide change, even in the most entrenched, male-dominated industries," Hill wrote.

The male-dominated leadership of Silicon Valley has proved unwilling or unable to solve systemic gender inequality," Hill wrote. "It's time women in tech consider taking advantage of the law to disrupt the industry once and for all."

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