Class Action: The Story of Lois Jenson and the Landmark Case That Changed…

by Clara Bingham

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Wow. This book is well worth reading, not for any great artistry of prose, but for the story it tells. This case, dramatized (and actually toned down, I hear) for the big screen as North Country is unbelievable. Unbelievable the crap these women went through in order to get a living wage, unbelievable the tactics brought to bear against them by the company's lawyers, and unbelievable, to me at least, that this case and all its legal implications were not resolved until 1998.

I think by 1998 I'd already heard a contemporary say that feminism was 'over' because it had done its work back in the 1970s. Hell, maybe I thought it myself. The fight for equity wasn't and isn't over, and this clearly written account (co-authored by a lawyer and a reporter) will make you grateful for the laws that protect everyone at work today in America, and the sacrifices that were made to get them. (

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eilonwy_anne | Apr 29, 2008 |

This was an excellent read. Being a true story about the U.S.'s first sexual harrassment class action, I expected it to be a dry chore to read, but the opposite proved true. The writers wrote it in the style of "creative nonfiction" weaving the kind of compelling narrative usually not found within nonfiction legal cases. Even though I was already aware of the overall outcome of the lawsuit, having been introduced to the story via the movie North Country, and had researched the case itself afterward, still the writing was engaging enough that it was difficult to pry myself away from the book once I started reading. (

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Nimbrethil | Oct 25, 2007 |

The book is so much better than the movie. It gives you a much truer sense of what the women went through. Which is to be expected, of course, but I was surprised at the changes in the movie. (

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mzonderm | Aug 6, 2007 |

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North Country (2005 ∙ IMDb)

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Wikipedia in English (2)

Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co.

Paul Sprenger

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Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0385496133, Paperback)

A petite single mother, Lois Jenson was among the first women hired by a northern Minnesota iron mine in 1975. In this brutal workplace, female miners were relentlessly threatened with pornographic graffiti, denigrating language, stalking, and physical assaults. Terrified of losing their jobs, the women kept their problems largely to themselves—until Lois, devastated by the abuse, found the courage to file a complaint against the company in 1984. Despite all of the obstacles the legal system threw at them, Lois and her fellow plaintiffs enlisted the aid of a dedicated team of lawyers and ultimately prevailed. Weaving personal stories with legal drama, Class Action shows how these terrifically brave women made history, although not without enormous personal cost. Told at a thriller’s pace, this is the story of how one woman pioneered and won the first sexual harassment class action suit in the United States, a legal milestone that immeasurably improved working conditions for American women.

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:40:53 -0500)

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In the coldest reaches of northern Minnesota, a group of women endured a shocking degree of sexual harassment--until one of them stepped forward and sued the company that had turned a blind eye to their pleas for help. Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines, the first sexual harassment class action in America, permanently changed the legal landscape as well as the lives of the women who fought the battle.… (more)