Time’s Up president acknowledges 'blind spot' amid Cuomo fallout
This story was published in partnership with The 19th, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy.
The leaders at Time’s Up, an organization founded to fight sexual misconduct and advocate for gender equity in the workplace, often tell staff that their proximity to power is a strength, not a hindrance.
But Time’s Up Board Chair Roberta Kaplan resigned over her assistance to Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo as he attempted to discredit a former staffer who accused him of sexual harassment. In her first interview since Kaplan stepped down, Time's Up President Tina Tchen said she has “learned from this about a blind spot I had” about some of the group’s leaders’ long-standing relationships with people in powerful positions.
Tchen said she sees it can be difficult to gauge at what point in a working relationship Time’s Up may need to pull away as information comes to light.
“When do we say, ‘No, we can’t work with you anymore’?” Tchen asked. “I will admit, I probably have drawn that line too far down the pathway.”
Tchen’s interview, in which she discussed Kaplan’s resignation, was recorded Friday as part of The 19th Represents, an online summit taking place this week. The full interview will air Thursday during the virtual summit.
Time's Up leader:Roberta Kaplan resigns after criticism about ties to Gov. Andrew Cuomo
Tchen said Time’s Up aimed to use its access to “work with people who can make change and hold them accountable.” She has “seen it work,” she said, citing corporate executives who enacted paid leave policies while national legislation stalled. “But clearly, we need to do that in ways that are much more careful.”
“I acknowledge this, and it is painful to me, that actions that I have done have caused survivors to feel pain and to feel betrayed,” Tchen said. “We need to figure out: How can we do this to make sure that doesn't happen?”
When New York’s attorney general released a 165-page investigative report this month saying Cuomo had sexually harassed 11 women and retaliated against one, it sent ripples through the advocacy communities for women and LGBTQ people.
Kaplan was among several advocates who advised the Cuomo team as it planned to draft and disseminate an op-ed letter challenging the credibility of former staffer Lindsey Boylan, the first to publicly accuse the governor of sexual harassment.
More than 100 survivors of sexual harassment and assault, including Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund clients and former staffers, wrote an open letter arguing that the organization “lost its way.”
Governor resigns:New York's Andrew Cuomo resigns amid sexual harassment scandal
“There is a consistent pattern of behavior where the decision-makers at Time’s Up continue to align themselves with abusers at the expense of survivors,” the group wrote.
In interviews with The 19th, more than a dozen current and former Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund clients, staffers, consultants and members of working groups said they’ve repeatedly raised concerns about the organization’s potential conflicts of interest and political alignments.
“People make mistakes, but these are repetitive mistakes,” said Pringl Miller, one of the members of Time’s Up Healthcare who resigned this year over the group’s response to allegations that a board member failed to report the sexual harassment of a colleague.
#MeToo movement
A group of high-profile Hollywood women launched Time’s Up in early 2018 after The New York Times published its first story about how Hollywood film producer and Miramax co-founder Harvey Weinstein paid off women who accused him of sexual harassment.
The co-founders of its legal defense fund were Tchen, Kaplan, Fatima Goss Graves and Hilary Rosen. Goss Graves heads the National Women’s Law Center, which administers the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund. Rosen is the vice chair at SKDK, a Democratic strategy firm based in Washington. They are both on the Time’s Up board.
Time’s Up’s leaders and the members of its board came into the #MeToo movement from careers in politics and business. Tchen, a Chicago-based lawyer, was a top fundraiser for President Barack Obama who became Michelle Obama’s chief of staff. Kaplan successfully argued for marriage equality before the Supreme Court. Rosen, before joining SKDK, was chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Some of these women’s alliances and professional endeavors presented potential conflicts that Time’s Up staff, clients and associates said should be reviewed, disclosed or both, those interviewed by The 19th said.
AG report:Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women in violation of law
Kaplan, through her law firm, defends Goldman Sachs in a lawsuit that claims the investment bank’s general counsel covered up sexual misconduct claims. She represents top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa, who was central to the governor’s attempt to quash sexual harassment allegations and discredit Boylan. DeRosa resigned Aug. 8. Cuomo followed on Aug. 10.
Tchen’s political stature has led to situations in which Time’s Up staff, consultants, defense fund clients and other survivors said they worried that political relationships were prioritized over survivors’ needs.
In February 2019, before the Chicago mayoral election, Tchen, who was not yet president of the organization, endorsed Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, whose campaign used Time's Up’s name on its literature. Preckwinkle had fired her chief of staff in September 2018 for what she called “inappropriate behavior,” stemming from allegations the chief of staff groped a woman in late 2016. The Chicago Tribune reported that Preckwinkle knew of the incident as early as March 2018. Tchen said she endorsed Preckwinkle in a personal capacity, believing Preckwinkle acted swiftly once learning of allegations against her chief of staff.
Tchen became president of Time's Up in October 2019. She said the standard conflicts-of-interest policy the organization uses "isn't sufficient."
Potential conflicts
Internal concerns about potential conflicts between the organization’s work and the political allegiances of its leaders intensified during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.
Jennifer Klein, who co-chairs the White House Gender Policy Council, advised Joe Biden's presidential campaign on gender policy. Staff worried about the optics of Tchen and Klein’s donations of $2,800 to Biden in April 2020, because they landed shortly after The New York Times published a story about former Senate aide Tara Reade’s allegation that Biden sexually assaulted her. Biden denied the claim.
Staffers told The 19th they took notice when Rebecca Goldman, who was Time’s Up’s chief operating officer, weighed in on whether the organization’s social media platforms should highlight a debate exchange between presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bloomberg over his company’s use of nondisclosure agreements, known as NDAs. Goldman’s husband’s political firm, Three Point Media, was paid about $450,000 for Bloomberg’s three-months-long presidential campaign.
Time’s Up used its Twitter account to criticize moderators for not bringing up the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. But in February 2020, when a debate moderator asked Bloomberg whether his company was a hostile workplace for women, staffers were advised not to tweet, they said. After Bloomberg offered to release three women from their NDAs, Time’s Up issued a news release saying it “commend(s) all companies taking meaningful action to fight the epidemic of sexual harassment and discrimination.”. Time’s Up declined to address specific actions its staffers have taken.
Time’s Up’s close ties since its founding to SKDK, which brought in more than $2 million from Biden’s campaign, also have been a point of friction.
The National Women’s Law Center runs the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund and matches survivors with attorneys. Clients can apply for “storytelling assistance,” and those requests are routed through SKDK, which either handles a client internally or matches her with an outside public relations firm. Clients have no way of knowing whether SKDK’s political or corporate consulting work relates to an individual or entity they may be suing for harassment.
“I understand that the fund’s relationship with Time’s Up foundation can be confusing,” said Uma Iyer, a spokesperson for the legal defense fund. “However, the work of and decisions made by the fund happen completely independent of Time’s Up; we are separate organizations with separate staff. The fund remains a place for survivors to turn to, and I urge folks to continue to reach out to us.”
Dominique Huett, a member of the Time’s Up Safety Working Group, said of the Time’s Up foundation: “They need to be nonpartisan. That’s been a critical flaw from the very beginning.”
Lauren Weingarten, a Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund client who settled a case against CBS, said she “literally felt like the floor was falling out beneath me” when she realized SKDK works with the network and CBS was one of Time’s Up’s strategic partners. It would have made a difference if someone from Time’s Up or the legal defense fund had walked her through ties to CBS and assured her it would not affect her case, she said.
Tchen said that reviewing and disclosing potential conflicts “is the kind of thing that’s on the table to take a look at, to make sure we put in whatever guardrails and protections and policies that we need to.” The organization has solicited input from the survivor community.
“I believe her intentions are good and her heart is in the right place,” said Pamela Guest, a member of the Time’s Up Safety Working Group who said survivors need to see “action” to develop an accountability process.
“I understand people are waiting to see what that looks like. That’s the reason we are going to try to start to put ‘What does that proper design-process process look like?’” Tchen said.
“It may not feel fast enough for people,” Tchen said, “but actually, right now, I think that’s what we want to do, and it will absolutely involve outside people.”