Review by Booklist Review
In 1981 Neville was a rising star at a Buffalo, New York, television station where she worked as a sales account executive and on-air consumer reporter. The former beauty-pageant entrant was stunned when her married, newly promoted male supervisor made overt sexual advances and indicated that unless Neville complied with his wishes, career advancement was impossible. Neville handled the matter in a professional manner by informing the general sales manager, who took no action. Ultimately, after another complaint by Neville, she was fired. She took her case to district court, where after six years of legal hassling, the judge ruled against Neville in what had become a termination issue rather than one of sexual harassment. Not surprisingly, Neville learned much about corporate politics and the judicial process through her legal ordeal, and in this involving reflection, she not only relates her experiences but offers enlightenment and guidelines for others facing similar situations. As both a reflective memoir and a handbook for dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace, this is a timely, absorbing account. To be indexed. --Sue-Ellen ~Beauregard
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
As accounts of sexual harassment are increasingly reported by members of the growing female workforce, Neville, one of its victims, offers guidelines to combat the problem. In a forthright narrative, understandably tinged with bitterness, she recounts how, following her complaint of sexual harassment by her boss, she was fired from her job as a TV reporter in upstate New York and underwent seven years of humiliation, death threats and sensationally covered trials that wrecked her career and bank account. Now a counselor to similarly abused women, she discusses how to identify and report signs of improper behavior. She calls for enforcement of existing federal and court guidelines, although she maintains that the legal system is still inimical to this type of case. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
This book offers readers sound advice concerning sexual harassment on the job and the details of the author's legal battle with Taft Broadcasting, which cost her a career as a television account executive as well as a great deal of money. Profoundly affected by the experience, Neville now counsels victims of sexual harassment. Aiming to offer ways of dealing with each person and situation encountered in a positive manner, Neville is best when disclosing her doubts about the legal system and discussing alternate ways of voicing complaints. For general readers in public library collections.-- Christy Zlatos, Northeastern Univ. Lib., Boston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A TV executive who sued Taft Broadcasting for sexual harassment pours out her cautionary tale and offers advice. In 1981, Neville's ""bright future"" as ""the first woman account executive"" at WGRTV in Buffalo dimmed. Neville describes (partly in ersatz diary form) how her boss pursued her in and out of the office, and after a client meeting ""grabbed"" her and ""kissed"" her ""squarely on the mouth."" After she refused his advances, he became ""hostile."" She reported the harassment to a manager, and was fired. Suing Taft for $800,000, Neville began a seven-year battle that cost her around $50,000 and much of her personal life. In 1987, two years after hearing the trial, the judge decided that Neville had proved sexual harassment (a form of Title VII discrimination), but that she ""was dismissed for legitimate business reasons."" She also lost the appeal. In the book's second half, ambitiously titled ""New Sexual Rules for Men and Women on the Job,"" the author suggests ways to handle harassment incidents so that they never get to court. While Neville openly admits mistakes she made along the way, too much of the advice delves no deeper than ""better communication."" Overall, the book undercuts its points by vague reporting, a self-absorbed perspective, and embarrassing prose. (""Once out of the shadows, presidential candidate Gary Hart didn't have a chance of recovering from his social/sexual no-no."") Readers will find relevant legal information (including Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act) in the appendices. According to Neville, a Working Woman magazine survey reports that ""nearly 90% of Fortune 500 companies have received complaints of sexual harassment."" The author's account, unfortunately, does little more than raise this difficult-to-legislate issue. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
