National Nurses United: Stop supporting Arturo Carmona
Sexual harassment turned my life upside down. It’s time the progressive movement took a stand
Two years ago, I was on top of the world. I had a great job at a consulting firm working to create progressive social change on issues I cared about. Not only did I get to feel like I was changing the world, but I was doing it with some of my best friends. I was living the dream.
That dream turned out to be a nightmare. Our firm, Fitzgibbon Media, which listed some of the most respected organizations on the left as clients, shut down abruptly after several staffers came forward with allegations of sexual harassment and abuse at the hands of our founder Trevor Fitzgibbon.
This wasn’t his first allegation. According to reporting by the Huffington Post, while working at another progressive firm, two staffers reported Fitzgibbon for sexual harassment. He was disciplined, but not fired and enjoyed an 8 year tenure before departing to start Fitzgibbon Media. Instead of losing his job, this culture of silence and stunning lack of accountability helped an alleged sexual harasser amass more power and move up the ranks of the progressive movement.
The story of what happened at Fitzgibbon Media was heartbreaking, but it was by no means an isolated case. Women started speaking up about the sexual harassment and abuse they had faced while working at other progressive organizations or campaigns.
It’s tempting to think that sexual harassment isn’t a problem on the left. After all, we’re all progressives. We’re all feminists. And we’re all working toward making the world a better place, right? But too often, progressive leaders who spend their workdays pointing out abuses of power and injustices can shut their eyes to toxic behavior of their own.
Last week, several women came forward to tell stories of working with Arturo Carmona, candidate for Congress in California’s 34th district.
They shared stories of being underpaid and treated like Carmona’s personal assistant because of their gender. They shared stories about being bullied and talked down to. They shared stories of being put in situations that made them feel unsafe and afraid. They shared stories of trying to report his behavior to the appropriate people and having those reports go nowhere.
Several of Carmona’s colleagues from the Bernie Sanders campaign have asked progressive leaders and organizations to rescind any endorsement or support for Carmona.
Progressive organization Democracy for America set a great model of what bold leadership looks like by publicly acknowledging that Carmona’s treatment of women should disqualify him from Congress.
But National Nurses United, the country’s largest nurses union, continues to throw the weight of their support behind Carmona.
Is this who we are as progressives? It’s all well and good to call yourself progressive, but if our movement tolerates and empowers sexual harassers, what are we really fighting for? What do we really stand for? What good are having values if we only have them when it’s politically convenient or easy?
If the left is ever going to own and tackle our toxic culture of sexual harassment, we need to start now. An easy and obvious start would be to believe the women that came forward and stop giving their harasser more power.
