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Class Action: The Story of Lois Jenson and the Landmark Case That Changed Sexual Harassment Law

By Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy Gansler      Doubleday; ISBN: 0385496125; (June 18, 2002)

This is the story of a small group of women iron miners who took on a Minnesota mining company in a landmark civil suit: Jensen vs. Eveleth Mines. In 1975, Lois Jenson became one of the first women to work in the iron mines of Minnesota and she later became the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit against Eveleth Mines. Jenson and other women miners underwent twenty-five years of harsh and cruel abuse. They received equally brutal treatment in the federal court system. Eveleth’s lawyers made a full assault on Jenson’s character during a deposition that inquired about the most personal details of her life. The plaintiffs pay in emotional pain despite the success of the lawsuit. The book shows the dangers and rewards of taking on a powerful institution through the justice system.

Florence Scala was born and raised on Taylor Street on the Near West Side of Chicago, but no life story begins and ends with a particular person and his or her period. Carolyn Eastwood splendidly follows this principle, starting with a neighborhood map and ending with a bibliography. In between are the oral histories of Harold Fox, whose grandparents immigrated to the Jewish Neighborhood; Florence Scala, who was born in Chicago shortly after her parents immigrated from Italy; Nate Duncan, whose family migrated to the Black Bottom; and Hilda Portillo, born in Mexico. All discuss their immigrant roots and Chicago neighborhoods, in addition to their personal stories.
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