She walked away from her dream job

"I didn't get the memo as a young girl that said you should have low self-esteem and put up with crap."


Katie-the-Bobblehead salutes Nell Scoville for respecting herself enough to walk away from a bad workplace.

But she's saddened that women are still put in this position.

Imagine what would have happened if this woman had complained to supervisors or Human Resources about her powerful boss. Do you think they would have cared?

Too often they circle behind the powerful boss -- often a master at spin, such as David Letterman. He's the star of the show, she's a nobody writer. He speaks to an audience of millions, she's an easily-replaced writer.

In many cases, the employers know the powerful boss is a bully, inappropriate, etc... They choose to look the other way or minimize the behavior. When it comes to ethics and justice for women, these employers are bankrupt.

If a woman speaks up what often happens is she finds herself on "trial." Employers often don't care about her story -- only about protecting themselves from lawsuits. They also want to secure the reputation of the "star" as well as their own, and that often means discrediting the worker.

The employer may go through the motions of an "investigation." During this time, a woman may be told to stay home, yet the powerful boss is allowed to continue working.

A double standard? Sexist? You betcha.

More than that, these employers taint the reputation of the worker by proceeding in this way. They also create an atmosphere of intimidation for other workers and send a strong message to other women not to complain about inappropriate supervisors.

They exacerbate the situation and escalate the hostile work environment. How could she ever return to her job? Once demonized, what co-worker would want to be seen befriending her? Most prefer to keep their noses clean and jobs secure. That's the point of these tactics. They also add to the woman's trauma and isolation, in addition to her loss of an income and health insurance.

Think of it in terms of the Good Samaritan parable. There's an individual who has been beaten on the side of the road. In the New Testament story, two people walk by and an unlikely third person helps.

But in the corporate scenario, when women speak out about bosses who abuse their power, often no one comes to their aid. In some worse-case scenarios, women are blamed for "triggering" the supervisor's outrageous behavior. (Battered women are often blamed for their partner's violence toward them, too.)

Katie has heard these stories of women many, many times over the years. And yes, from workers in religious organizations, too. It's not a thing of the past.

She wishes that 19 years ago David Letterman had lost his job instead of the writer. Think of how many other women in that workplace would have been spared harassment and exploitation.

The 30 Republicans

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Katie wishes to thank Jon Stewart for skewering the 30 Republican senators -- all white men -- who voted against a measure designed to help sexual assault victims.

Katie also thanks Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) for exposing defense contractors who force employees to sign contracts saying they won't sue in the event of a sexual assault.

Here's the link to Sen. Franken's Web site, which explains the legislation he proposed to guarantee these sexual assault victims an avenue to justice.

Below is the list of the 30 Republican senators who voted against the measure. Among them is 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain (R-AZ)

Lamar Alexander (R-TN)

John Barrasso (R-WY)

Kit Bond (R-MO)

Sam Brownback (R-KS)

Jim Bunning (R-KY)

Richard Burr (R-NC)

Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)

Tom Coburn (R-OK)

Thad Cochran (R-MS)

Bob Corker (R-TN)

John Cornyn (R-TX)

Mike Crapo (R-ID)

Jim DeMint (R-SC)

John Ensign (R-NV)

Mike Enzi (R-WY)

Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Judd Gregg (R-NH)

James Inhofe (R-OK)

Johnny Isakson (R-GA)

Mike Johanns (R-NE)

Jon Kyl (R-AZ)

John McCain (R-AZ)

Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

James Risch (R-ID)

Pat Roberts (R-KS)

Jim Sessions (R-AL)

Richard Shelby (R-AL)

John Thune (R-SD)

David Vitter (R-LA)

Roger Wicker (R-MS)

A pioneer with speed and style

Sixty Corvettes are expected to be part of the funeral procession today for Donna Mae Mims, known as the Pink Lady.

After she died last week, the funeral home carried out her wishes to be in the driver's seat of a Corvette when people came for public visitation.

Mims specified that the vehicle be a 1979 model -- in pink, of course.

Her friends call it a fitting tribute for the first woman to win the Sports Car Club of America's national championship.

The ELCA has not come a long way

The first sentence on the ELCA's 'Justice for Women' page says:

The ELCA is committed to challenging and eradicating sexism in this church and society.

If only that were true. Katie's experience is that the ELCA headquarters in Chicago works too hard at quashing and "eradicating" the individuals who speak up about the sexism in that very building.

What does the employee Justice for Women Alliance do? Holds discussions about The Gender Knot and forums on "patriarchy."

People who care about this issue already know the theory. Sitting around discussing theory allows church leaders to keep the real problems in their midst at bay. They create the illusion that they are dealing with sexism but turn a blind eye to employees' suffering.

This is dangerous. Employees read these statements and believe they are working in an environment where it is safe for them to come forward and report sexist behaviors.

"That was a whole David Letterman ago"

Have you checked out "Politics Daily," the AOL news startup? The editor-in-chief is a smart journalist named Melinda Henneberger, who hails from a small town in downstate Illinois.

She's lived all over, worked all over, earned multiple degrees and even served on a Pulitzer Prize team of reporters from New York Newsday.

Henneberger's stamp is fresh, smartly-written news stories that are well-researched. Her site brings women's voices to the surface, which is what we'd hope for from the author of If They Only Listened to Us: What Women Voters Want Politicians to Hear.

Unite against CBS

CBS 'Late Show' host David Letterman recently admitted to sleeping with several women at work. Yet, he appears to be facing no consequences for his behavior.

Katie agrees with a statement issued this week by the National Organization for Women:

Most women can attest to the fact that many workplaces are plagued with inappropriate behavior by men in power... Every woman -- and every man -- deserves to work in a place where all employees are respected for their talents and skills.

Katie says most religious organizations would agree with this statement. Yet, many fail to practice what they preach. Denominations that ordain women do not necessarily make safer workplaces for women.

Stop the violence

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Ninety-five percent of domestic violence victims in the United States are women, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Almost all of their abusers are men.

"Why Does He Do That: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men" is a resource book written by Lundy Bancroft to educate the public about abusive men.