• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
LeadershipraceAhead

Why Leslie Jones’s Harassment Is a Workplace Issue

Ellen McGirt
By
Ellen McGirt
Ellen McGirt
Down Arrow Button Icon
Ellen McGirt
By
Ellen McGirt
Ellen McGirt
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 25, 2016, 12:48 PM ET
Watch What Happens Live - Season 13
WATCH WHAT HAPPENS LIVE -- Pictured: Leslie Jones -- (Photo by: Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)Charles Sykes — Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

This Leslie Jones story just keeps getting worse.

Jones, the comic, SNL actor, and one of the four female leads of the Ghostbusters reboot, has once again been the target of racist and sexist online abuse.

Yesterday, her personal website was taken down after hackers apparently posted personal information about her, including her passport and driver’s license, along with nude photos, and in a particularly grotesque twist, a video of Harambe, the Cincinnati Zoo gorilla who was killed by zoo officials after a child fell into his enclosure.

And what has now become a ritual, famous people in her sphere tweeted words of support, like this, from Lena Dunham: “Let’s turn our anger at trolls into love for Leslie Jones and into strategies to protect all the heroines who don’t deserve this bull@#$%.”

Let's turn our anger at trolls into love for Leslie Jones and into strategies to protect all the heroines who don't deserve this bullshit

— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) August 24, 2016

 

It’s just not enough, says Rebecca Carroll, in a strongly worded opinion piece for The Guardian.

“Where is the practical response to this grotesque, debilitatingly mean-spirited violence? It’s one thing to offer her digital apologies for others’ racism. It’s another to actually take a stand to help eliminate it from our society.”

Sign up for raceAhead, Fortune’s daily newsletter on race and culture here.

What strikes me about this situation, and so many others that happen online, is that it has become a workplace issue.

Jones is a public figure, and like so many even semi-public ones—like marketers, publishers, game-makers, academics, researchers, journalists, lawyers and advocates, to name a few—she needs the public spaces of the internet and social media to amplify her work and brand. Yet she is being driven from these important tools because we, as a society, are unable to wrangle the racism and bullying beast in ourselves and each other.

At least when it happens online, we can see the problem.

But for many other people, race-based and other forms of workplace harassment happen behind closed doors. Where is the practical solution for this?

In June, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace released a thorough—and thoroughly grim—report on harassment in the workplace.

For more on Ghostbusters, watch this Fortune video:

The report says that of the 90,000 charges of discrimination received at the EEOC during their fiscal year 2015, one-third was for workplace harassment. The report also notes that up to 60% of workers have experienced race-based harassment in the workplace, and one study of LGBT employees reviewed by the report showed 41% of respondents said they had been verbally or physically abused by co-workers.

But that’s not the whole picture. Some three out of four employees who experienced some form of harassment based on their race, ethnicity, disability or LGBT status, never told their manager, supervisor or human relations contact, studies show.

“Most employers do very little training besides a policy in their handbook that states unlawful harassment is not acceptable,” says Karen A. Young, author and HR consultant. And the training that is in place, tends to focus on legal liability—to protect the company, not prevention—which protects and educates the employees. “We charge most line managers with handling these issues, and they are even less equipped to deal with the situation.”

And yet, front line leaders, trained, supported and empowered to have difficult and meaningful conversations are an important way to maintain a respectful and productive workplace, says the report. “However, even effective training cannot occur in a vacuum—it must be part of a holistic culture of non-harassment that starts at the top.”

Read the full report here.

Ellen McGirt writes Fortune’s raceAhead, a newsletter about race and culture.

About the Author
Ellen McGirt
By Ellen McGirt
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Leadership

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
Fortune Secondary Logo
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Leadership

trump
LawTariffs
‘Why shouldn’t we get our money back too?’ Normal people are starting to demand Trump tariff refunds
By Mae Anderson and The Associated PressFebruary 28, 2026
5 hours ago
david ellison
Arts & EntertainmentHollywood
20 years ago, David Ellison’s flop as an actor stressed him out so much he went to the hospital. Now he’s set to own Paramount and Warner
By Matt Sedensky and The Associated PressFebruary 28, 2026
5 hours ago
warren
InvestingBerkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway shareholders just woke up to a letter by someone other than Warren Buffett
By Josh Funk and The Associated PressFebruary 28, 2026
5 hours ago
Big TechAmerican Politics
Your spend as a ‘weapon’: Scott Galloway’s ‘Resist and Unsubscribe’ movement asks you to ditch Amazon, Apple, and Netflix to oppose Trump
By Kristin StollerFebruary 28, 2026
9 hours ago
Gamers celebrating
SuccessCareers
Meet the Gen Z college students who turned Excel into a competitive esport—they’re competing in spreadsheet challenges and it’s helping them land jobs
By Preston ForeFebruary 28, 2026
10 hours ago
world's fair
CommentaryRobots
Something big is happening in AI, but panic is the wrong reaction
By Peter CappelliFebruary 28, 2026
10 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Success
Japanese companies are paying older workers to sit by a window and do nothing—while Western CEOs demand super-AI productivity just to keep your job
By Orianna Rosa RoyleFebruary 27, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Walmart exec says U.S. workforces needs to take inspiration from China where ‘5 year-olds are learning DeepSeek’
By Preston ForeFebruary 27, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of February 27, 2026
By Danny BakstFebruary 27, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Law
China's government intervenes to show Michigan scientists were carrying worms, not biological materials
By Ed White and The Associated PressFebruary 26, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
AI
The week the AI scare turned real and America realized maybe it isn't ready for what's coming
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 28, 2026
11 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Come 2030, the U.S. deficit will be worth 5.9% of GDP—more than spending on Social Security, and equal to major health programs
By Eleanor PringleFebruary 26, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.