The Wendy Williams Lawsuit: My Experience with Sexual Harassment at Work and 5 Ways to Deal with It

Radio personality Wendy Williams' publicist, Nicole Spence, has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Williams and her husband, manager Kevin Hunter, according to the Associated Press. Ms. Spence levels serious accusations against Hunter, claiming he physically and verbally abused his wife at the workplace and repeatedly propositioned Spence for sex. Spence even claims Hunter called her late at night to discuss his sexual fantasies. In one instance, Spence claims, Hunter pinned his wife to the wall and choked her. In addition to Hunter propositioning her, Spence claims she felt unsafe in a workplace where Hunter was physically abusing his wife.

During my twelve years in the workplace, I have been sexually harassed twice, the worst of which occurred when I was a single mom to a two-month-old baby. Fresh out of college, I took a job as office manager for an attorney - a single, fifty-something man. I was thrilled. The pay was more than I had expected, and would allow me to support myself and my new baby. The harassment started gradually and worsened over the two years that I was employed there. Similar to Spence's claims regarding Hunter, sometimes his temper would flare and he would throw things across the office. Most of the harassment, however, was sexual in nature.

I first noticed a problem when he began standing far too close to me when talking. If I edged away, he only moved closer. Later, he would put his arm around me at work, and get irritated when I squirmed away. Like Spence, my boss began calling my cell phone late at night when he was drunk. He insisted I accompany him on "business lunches" until, eventually, he became intoxicated at one of these lunches and tried to kiss me. I used my key to get into the office, packed my things and never went back. With no supervisors, no co-workers, I had no one to tell.