In the wake of the #MeToo era and a groundswell of sexual misconduct allegations and accounts, many industries are finally taking a serious look at the impact of sexual harassment in the workforce. The historically male-dominated sectors of architecture and construction are no exception.
On Monday, April 16, the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation (BWAF) will be hosting the panel discussion “Rebalancing the Power: Solutions for Sexual Misconduct in Architecture and Design Culture,” at the Häfele America Co. showroom in New York. The panelist will review the “legacies of harassment and sexual abuse in architecture and design culture … experiences and challenges … [and] ideas and even a validated approach forward for both design firms and victims in the professions,” according to the BWAF event description.
Robin Pogrebin, the New York Times culture reporter who also broke the story on the sexual misconduct allegations against Richard Meier, FAIA, will moderate a panel comprising Robert Ottinger, Julie Kantor, Mark Regulinski, AIA, and Suzanne Pennasilico. Ottinger, a plaintiff attorney and founder of the Ottinger Firm, based in New York and San Francisco, will present the legal issues that victims of sexual misconduct may encounter. Clinical psychologist and management consultant Kantor, with offices in New York and Morristown, N.J., will discuss the stress, trauma, and behavioral issues for both the perpetrator and victim. Regulinski—a former principal at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), who is now based in Washington, D.C.—will review the role that firm leadership plays in improving work conditions. Pennasilico, who heads SOM’s human resources department and is based in New York, will offer employer and employee perspectives on incidents of sexual misconduct.
Tickets may be purchased through the BWAF website.
