Name: Watch Gretchen Carlson Talk About Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
Uploaded: 2017-05-16
Duration: 20 min 22 s
Description: At the Fortune / State Department’s dinner in NYC.

We are so thrilled to have Gretchen. It's interesting, we had a breakfast with the mentees from around the world this morning and I said, do you know who Gretchen Carlson is? They were not familiar with you but Gretchen, after- Thank God. [ LAUGH ] Gretchen landed on the cover of Time in the fall, and what she did so courageously at Fox News last summer opened the flood gates for what we're seeing now. So let me just give a little background, Gretchen grew up in Anoka. You got it. Am I saying it right? Yes. Anoka, Minnesota population, do you know what the population is. Its about 14, 000. Well Wikipedia says about 17, 000. My gosh it's grown. Its grown. Okay. Population 17, 000 the daughter of a. Of a car dealer, or should I say car dealers? Because your mother was in the business as well, right? My mother now runs the business at age 76. That's fantastic. [ APPLAUSE ] The GM dealership? Yeah. 76 that's fantastic. Gretchen was a violin prosody growing up, that's what you spent your time devoted to. Gretchen went to Stanford Graduated from Stanford with honors and while she was at Stanford, she was doing a couple of other things. She became Miss Minnesota, and then she became Miss America while she was at Stanford. And you also spent a year at Oxford studying abroad. Congratulations on all that. Thank you. She moved, you wanted to be a journalist, you got into national TV news in 2000 when you went to CBS, correct? Well, I started in local news News actually, after I graduated. Right, yes. Back in, well, should we say how long ago that was? [ LAUGH ] A long time ago, 25 years ago. Well, I'm gonna reveal your age because something that happened. Yes, well, yes. No, we're gonna be proud of my age. [ APPLAUSE ] Yes we are. Like all of us should be. Yes, we are. So, you were CBS from 2000 to 2005. You went to FOX in 2005. Gretchen co- anchored a morning show called Fox and Friends, which the people who live here in the United States are very familiar with. And then you got your own show, in what year was that? The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson? Three years ago. Three years ago. Last summer, last June, You were out. Your show was not gonna be renewed, and you left. And a couple of weeks later, Gretchen sued the chairman and CEO of Fox News, Roger Ailes, For sexual harassment. Now, you didn't sue Fox News and we're gonna get into that a little later, Grane cannot talk about what happened at the Fox News, so her experience at Fox News how it all acme down, she ended up settling with the company, with 21st Century Fox, And the settlement, I mean I'll just say, she's not gonna confirm it here on stage but the settlement was reportedly a 20 million dollar settlement. You have something against them that they were afraid of and. Due to what Gretchen did, and the many, many, many women who followed in her footsteps, in accusing the senior management at Fox of sexual harassment, Roger Ailes was forced to leave, And other executives were forced to leave. And Gretchen is writing a book that is due out in October called, you say it. Be Fierce. Yeah. [ APPLAUSE ] So Gretchen What is your book about? Actually, the manuscript is due today. [ LAUGH ] So I've been very busy doing the final edits and touch- ups to that. The manuscript was due today. Did you hand it in today? I did. Good. [ LAUGH ] I was on time. [ APPLAUSE ] Good. Yes, I guess that comes from my studious past. Yes I did turn it today, now it will go through some high- powered editing and legal vetting. And it will be out on October 17th, so I am very proud of that Actually I had just written my memoir about 20 months ago, and I promised my family and myself I'd never write another book. [ LAUGH ] But then again I didn't realize I was gonna jump off a cliff by myself on July 6th either, with safety net below. So what really encouraged me and inspired me to put this together Was all of the thousands of women that I heard from after my story became public. And it was really overwhelming because they found me. Whether it was on my website or through other connections. Twitter or Facebook or Instagram. And I started compiling and printing off all these stories from all of these women, and thousands of them, and they were in stacks in my office at home. And I was like holy crap, every woman has a story. And we live in 2017, and why is this? This is outrageous And so many of them said to me, you are our voice. We are voiceless. And through whatever victory they saw that I had, they felt victorious. And I knew I had to do something with that. And I knew I had to try and tell their stories too. And that is how the concept and the concept of be fierce came to reality very quickly. And the interesting thing Patty is that when I went back to them and said, I'm going to put together a book, could I use your story? And almost all of them said would you please. Would you please be the first person to tell what happened to me. And they felt comfortable with me. It was almost like this instant connection My life has worked in very mysterious ways, if you just heard my resume and from violinist to Miss America. And by the way, I was a chubby kid, so that was never on my radar screen. [ LAUGH ] It was my violin talent 100 % that got me to that level. But this is another way in which my life has worked in a Unusual pattern. But the one constant in my life has been that I never, ever give up. And when the challenge is before me, I do something about it. So I never expected to be the face of sexual harassment, by any stretch of the imagination. But when I found myself in that role, and I started hearing from all these women who needed me, Just became one of my life missions. So, what did you not know about this issue until it happened to you? [ LAUGH ] A lot. I mean, I think there are many stereotypes out there, that we can probably all can relate to. First of all If you're a woman and you speak up, you're a troublemaker. And it's not just about sexual harassment, it's about anything. But specifically on this issue, you're a troublemaker. You feel alone. You wonder if it's only happening to you. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] I think that we find strength in numbers, so If we knew that it was happening to more than just one person, probably more as we speak up. But it's also the mechanism in which we are allowed to speak up. And I'm reading extensively about this in my book with regard to, is human resources really the right place to go to because what I always equated to is who's giving them the paycheck. And in the end, if the culture is being set from the top and it's trickling down To the lower levels. You know, human resources maybe isn't looking out for you. So, I offered different suggestions in my book about you know, some new ways in which we might look at this to inspire more women to come forward and to stand up and to speak up and by the way the book is not only about sexual harassment When I moved to New York City, in fact my first apartment, I can see it right [ LAUGH ] over here. So it's very nostalgic for me tonight. [ LAUGH ] But when I moved here my friends who already lived here from Stanford said, well it's location, location, location. And I was like, no I just want the best deal. And then I found out how true that is about New York City. And the way in which I've described the last ten months of my life is timing, timing, timing. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Look at what's happened, with women, in our nation over the last nine months. We feel galvanized, we're marching, we're coming together, we're saying enough, is enough. And it's not just about sexual harassment, it's about every way, in which, we feel like we've been put down, or subjugated. And whether that starts in elementary and middle school, where your kid is being bullied or you get to college and there's date rape and sexual assault. Or then you get into the work place and you realize, wow, I'm not paid equally or wow, I really wish I did have a place in the board room or wow, I really wish I would be promoted into that position. So, the book is really about. Speaking up in any way in which you feel put down. And I feel it's timing, timing, timing, that we're sort of in this spirit right now where women are feeling powerful. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Which is a good word. Yes. I know. We're just talking at the table about the word power. And it is a good word. And what Robin Roberts said about we all have more power than we think we do, you showed that You are showing that. Gretchen, one of the things that is, sounds arcane on the surface, but is very important, and I know you're writing about it in your book, is this issue of forced arbitration. That it is in many employment contracts. And I would kind of guess that many women, or maybe most women in this room don't even know, if I have that in my contract. Explain this and because Gretchen can't talk about the Fox situation. But this is why she actually could not sue Fox News. She could not sue the company. So what did she do instead? She sued the boss, she sued Roger Ales. Explain for us arbitration. So it may be in the fine print of your contract. I advise you to take a look. Actually it's in many, many contracts that we sign everyday online. Like when you sign up for your cell phone service. Or even Netflix, or something like that. If you're like me, you can hardly wait to check the box and say I agree and move on. but the problem is, you know, when it's in your employment contract it's really, really crucial. Because what it means is you are giving up your seventh amendment right for a jury trial if you ever find yourself in a dispute at the office. And, you know, let's be honest, when we sign a new contract, we aren't thinking about that on day one. We're thinking, wow, I have a new job and I'm so excited, and I wanna just bring home my paycheck, and we don't envision that we're gonna find ourselves in a situation that's precarious and that we might need a juror trial [ LAUGH ], and the problem with forced arbitration is that it's secret. Explain the arbitration court is basically retired judges who take cases and take them in secret. I didn't wanna interrupt. So they take them in secret. The idea is the employer will say this is beneficial to the employee Because it's more cost- effective, and it happens more quickly than the court system. But the reality is, that only 20 % of the time does the employee actually win arbitration cases. And many times, when the same group of arbiters are on the same company cases, they tend to find in favor of the company, no matter what the evidence is. So, The other huge thing is the secrecy. So, let's say that you have a work dispute, it automatically goes to arbitration, and you can never tell anyone about it, ever. You can't tell them if you've won, or lost, and the end result is you don't work at the company anymore. So, if you find yourself in a sexual harassment situation, many times the predator keeps working, [ BLANK_AUDIO ] And you're gone. And you can never tell anyone what happened to you. I had two friends in my community where I live now who use to be on Wall Street, who after my story broke Told me privately, that, that had happened to them. And I never knew that. They'd only told their husbands. So, this is an advocacy part of my mission right now in trying to get bipartisan support to at least try and take away the secrecy aspect of this. Because right now the pendulum is like this. Here's you as the employee. But, at least if we could bring it out of the shroud of secrecy, then maybe we'd be on a little bit more even footing. So, I've been to Capital Hill. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. Yes, it is, it is. But, here's what I tell people, sexual harassment is not political. When somebody's gonna sexually harass you, they don't ask you before hand, are you a republican or you a Democrat? They just do it. And for anyone who has daughters, nieces, grand daughters, friends, special women in their life. We should all care about this issue. So I emailed Anita Hill yesterday, Anita Hill who in 1991 opened the floodgates for this issue in a really powerful and effective, and inspiring way. And she said, ask Gretchen She said so many of the women in the most powerful women community, Anita said have daughters who are derailed before they even get their real start. And they're even subject to a contract where this issue of an arbitration clause might exist. So what is your best advice to the daughters of these most powerful women. My gosh. Somehow we have to encourage all the young people and all the middle aged people that we have to agree that we're going to stand up and speak up together. Because if it's just one or two of us, we're not going to make as much of a dent. So that's the first thing. And the second thing is, we need men. We need men to help us and I'm dedicating an entire chapter of my book to what I call Enlightenment. And these are men who reached out to me very publicly have after my story broke. It's also men that I've come to find out about from speaking across the country who are doing amazing things to benefit women in the workplace. So Gretchen, as you've interviewed men, what is the difference in terms of background or life pattern of the enlightened men and the enablers of sexual harrasment .>> So the one common thread that I've found from these men is the way in which they were raised. ( silence ) and whether it was a single parent or You know, a mom and a dad, or a divorce situation, or whatever it was. It didn't matter. It was the role modeling that they saw growing up. And if they saw a strong woman, and if they saw, in some cases, a man in the relationship that respected that strong woman. Then that was, you know, that's how they formed what they thought about the world. And, you know, I have often said that in being a working mom, I have a daughter who is 13 and a son who is 12, and I said that I work more for my son actually. Because I want him in ten years, when he gets into the world To respect his female colleagues in the way in which he respects his mama right now. Mm- hm. And so for him, I find it's crucial, in my book, I'm asking parents to take a pledge. Let's take a pledge all together to raise, especially our sons, In the way in which they are going to respect their female colleagues. Because, until we get men to help in this mission, it's not gonna change. And by the way, the burden should not be on the shoulders of only women. We need men in this equation, and as long as 95 % of the Fortune 500 companies are still Run by men. We want them and we need them. We need them to help us on this path. Do you have any interest in going back to TV? Of course. You do? Yes. Okay. This question is from Billie Jean King. [ LAUGH ] She almost spit up her water there. I also emailed Billie yesterday. And We didn't think [ UNKNOWN ] was gonna be here tonight, but she couldn't resist us, so. [ LAUGH ] The question is, the question from Billy is, have you witnessed any backlash or discrimination as you've thought about getting back into your old field And emotionally how did that impact you. Have you looked at my Twitter feed. [ LAUGH ] Listen yes there's been backlash, some of which I can't speak about from that part of my life. But I know from looking at my social media accounts we have a lot of work to do. So that inspires me. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] As for emotionally what's kept me going? Is my kids which is. Look when I made the biggest decision of my life on July 6th the only thing I cared about was the well being of my children. And how that was gonna impact them. And that's a huge decision to make. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] So on the first day of school, when my daughter went, the day after Labor Day, it happened to coincide with the day that my resolution was announced. And one of her teachers Asked her to come up to the front of the class and explain to the kids what happened to her mommy over the summer. And when she told me that, when she came home, I thought; wow, I'm really not very happy about that. But, almost instantaneously, she said; and mom She said, that made me feel so proud. [ APPLAUSE ] And a couple of weeks later she had had a couple of girls that we bagna and she came home from school one day and she said mum and I told such and such of this and I told such and such of that and she said and I saw you do it so I did it mum And in the end that's all that matters, is what my children think about me. And if I helped to empower my child to be a stronger woman in this world and my son to see what I did, then it was worth it [ BLANK_AUDIO ] It was work. [ APPLAUSE ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ]

At the Fortune / State Department’s dinner in NYC.