Employers still need to get involved to help battered employees because domestic violence is prevalent in the workplace and helping victims supports employers’ goals of protecting productivity, safety, and finances.208 Two domestic violence advocates have explained that “[c]ompanies must create a workplace in which victimized employees believe that they will get help and will not be fired or discriminated against for sharing this information with a supervisor
204. Morrison, supra note 16, at 1078.
205. EDWARD W.GONDOLF WITH ELLEN R.FISHER,BATTERED WOMEN AS SURVIVORS:AN
ALTERNATIVE TO TREATING LEARNED HELPLESSNESS 11 (1998).
206. Researchers have found that collaboration that includes giving victims options and input in decision-making helped female victims feel less frustrated with the criminal process. See Nichols, supra note 107, at 1404.
207. Id. This is known as survivor-defined advocacy which developed from feminist advocacy. Id.; see also Goldfarb, supra note 100, at 1502–03.
or manager.”209 There are a number of stories where third party action made a positive difference. For instance, Susan Still, a domestic violence survivor turned activist, shared how her boss, Lynne Jasper, was instrumental in helping her get help.210 Susan Still’s story gained worldwide attention after her abusive husband forced their thirteen-year-old son to videotape him as he assaulted her verbally and physically.211.
Jasper observed Still come to work repeatedly with visible bruises and marks and overheard some disturbing phone calls where Still referred to her husband as “master.”212 Jasper spoke with Still and told her, “I think there’s something you want to tell me, and I need you to know that it’s OK to do that.”213 Still confided in her boss; however, Jasper learned that what Still shared was “not even close to how bad it was.”214 Jasper recalled, “When Susan walked [into work] beaten and marked worse than I have ever seen . . . I remember saying to her, ‘It’s gotta stop. Today’s the day.’ Susan replied, ‘Today’s the day.’”215 That day, Still escaped with two of her children to a shelter.216
In many ways, Jasper’s response was ideal. She offered support without paternalism. She began by reassuring her employee that she was in a safe environment to reveal the abuse. As one advocate explained, “we don’t have to know how to counsel people. We just have to know where to refer them.”217 Jasper also kept detailed records in her calendar when Still had been beaten.218 These records ultimately became crucial evidence in Still’s prosecution.219 Finally,
209. Jane A. Randel & Kimberly K. Wells, Corporate Approaches to Reducing Intimate Partner Violence Through Workplace Initiatives, 3 CLINICS IN OCCUPATIONAL &ENVTL.MED. 821, 831–32 (2003).
210. Kristin Pisarcik, Behind Closed Doors, Abuse Caught on Tape (ABC television broadcast Oct. 26, 2006), available at http://abcnews.go/com/Primetime/story?id=2608738 (July 2007).
211. The disturbing video has been preserved on YouTube. OWN TV, How Domestic Abuse Damages Children—Oprah’s Lifeclass—Oprah Winfrey Network, YOUTUBE (Nov. 7, 2011), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clt8n-UvBSQ.
212. Pisarcik, supra note 210. 213. Id.
214. Id. 215. Id. 216. Id.
217. Meinert, supra note 58, at 53. 218. Pisarcik, supra note 210. 219. Id.
she encouraged Still to leave and take action, without threatening her job or her privacy. Jasper’s encouragement may have saved Still’s life, not to mention the lives of her children who witnessed the abuse.
Confronting a victim about the abuse she may be hiding can be an important first step for employers to take. Consider the following post from a blog created for victims of domestic and sexual abuse:220
The worst was the night he followed me after work to my house, kicked me in my stomach until I was lying and chocking on the ground (while the frat houses across the street laughed and cat-called at me) until I tried and finally succeeded to get into my car and drive away. . . . One of my roommates, fed up with his antics, went to the cops. This is where my life started to change. I still remember her coming home and thrusting a business card of the lead of the domestic violence team of the local police in my hand and saying to me, “If you don’t file something, I will” before my anger turned to fear. I still had to ask myself, ‘Was this domestic violence?’ Yes, I knew it was out of hand. Yes, I knew I had to go to the cops. I would be dead or we both were if I didn’t stop it. I agreed to go the next day.221
Although the third party in this example was not the employer, the general value of support and assistance is the same. In this instance a third party’s decision to get involved set the course for the anonymous author to escape the abuse. Ultimately, the roommate offered encouragement and support while the anonymous poster took the courageous step of seeking help.
Likewise, encouragement and support is an important resource that all employers should provide domestic violence victims. The question remains as to how much action an employer should take on behalf of a battered employee and her coworkers.
A recent study of employed abused women examined the type of support desired from their supervisors.222 One interesting finding was that an increase in violence led many women to request more
220. Anonymous, supra note 85. 221. Id.
“instrumental support such as legal and financial assistance” as opposed to simple emotional support.223 The study found that the different levels of support wanted was correlated to the different stages that the women were moving through during the relationship or process of leaving the relationship.224 Encouragement and support from employers can play a significant role in helping victims.