The Ultimate Guide To Officialship (NY)

This one is for the people whose dream job is officialship or becoming an official court reporter. Just to get some quick links out of the way, there are two major Facebook discussion boards that I’m aware of. There’s the Officialship Job Board and the NCRA Officials group. I’m going to talk primarily about New York State Unified Court System officialship here, so if you’re looking for federal employment, please check out and bookmark the federal judicary jobs page. You’ll likely need your RPR for federal employment. As a matter of fact, if you’re looking for employment in New York City generally, you should check out one of my very first posts, Get A Real Job. Just keep in mind that if your dream job is Southern District NY, you’re going to need Eclipse last time I checked.

I’ll be writing most of this from memory, so feel free to correct me if I am factually wrong anywhere. This is not, in any way, a “guide” that is endorsed or published by the New York State Unified Court System (NYSUCS). I am not writing as an employee of NYSUCS. This is me as an individual just retelling my hiring experience in “guide format.” If you get a job with NYSUCS, you listen to your boss or your union over anything you might read or interpret here. If you’re looking for official information about NYSUCS, you should go to the site and ask that question through official channels.

The Tests, Classifications, and Eligible Lists:

Before we go anywhere, let’s just address how you get a court job. There are rarely per diem assignments available. These are court reporters that are hired and paid per day to come in and take the record. Per diems are rarely sought as of writing. Then there are what we refer to as provisional postings and then there are permanent positions. Provisional postings go up whenever there is a spot that needs to be filled and can be found by going to NY courts current opportunities. You can also search for “NY courts careers.” Civil service examinations are posted at “NY courts exams.” Reporters that apply for a provisional position usually must pass an in-house test. The court system may waive the provisional test for NYSCRA or NCRA certified court reporters. Reporters looking for a permanent appointment must pass the civil service test. That test is never waived. By law, civil service tests must be given every one to four years. Provisional employees can be considered temporary in your mind. If a civil service test is given and a provisional employee does not pass it, they may be let go. Provisional appointment should not be underestimated though, since an employee begins to accrue vacation time, sick time, time in the title for raises, and pension time. Many reporters begin their career by obtaining provisional employment and then passing the civil service exam to become permanent employees.

There is a separate civil service test for court reporters and senior court reporters, but they are substantially similar. “The test” consists of a multiple choice written knowledge portion and a skills portion. The written knowledge portion focuses on grammar, spelling, and technical knowledge. The skills test consists of an opening statement, a jury charge, and a four-voice dictation. The dictation is in the ballpark of 200 WPM. Two of the skills tests are transcribed and one is read back from the court reporter’s notes into a tape recorder. The readback portion is only graded for accuracy and not for inflection. If a reporter misreads their notes and corrects that misreading, the error is not counted against them. There is a readback time limit. Generally, court reporters have been expected to bring their own printers, stenotypes, pencils, and other equipment to the testing site. There has been discussion within the system about the possibility of online testing, but no civil service test has been given in that manner as of today. There are two eligible lists created when the civil service examination is graded. One list is a promotional list and one list is an open-competitive list. The promotional list is for anyone that held a court title prior to taking the test. The open-competitive list is for people who are not in the system that take the test. Everyone on the promotional list is scored above everyone on the open-competitive list. For example, let’s say that Mary Sue is a freelancer and scores a 100 on the open-competitive list for the senior court reporter title. John Doe is a court reporter working for the New York State Unified Court System and scores a 96 on the promotional list for the senior court reporter title. John Doe will be considered for a position as a senior court reporter before Mary Sue. When someone accepts a job with the New York State Unified Court System, typically they complete one year of probation. It is easier for the employer to discharge an employee during probation. In addition to provisional and permanent appointments, there are also contingent permanent appointments. Succinctly, every employee in the court system is a “line.” Sometimes there are situations where someone permanent is sick, injured, or not present. Contingent permanent people fill their line until the permanent employee returns, if they return. The most important thing to remember about the civil service examination is that when it is posted there is an orientation guide and accompanying materials posted to the exams page. Test takers must read and follow the orientation guide. Failure to follow the guide can result in an applicant’s disqualification.

Once you’re on the list, you get a preference letter asking you what courts you’re willing to work in. When I got that letter, my brilliant plan was to say I was willing to work in any court and then turn down canvass letters as needed. If you turn down canvass letters, you must make sure that you respond to the canvass letters and remain active on the eligible list. If you get put on inactive status on an eligible list, you can get skipped over for future canvass letters. In summary, fully read every official material you receive.

The Titles and Courts:

With the hard part out of the way, let’s talk titles. there are two major titles in the New York State Unified Court System. There are court reporters and there are senior court reporters. Senior court reporters typically cover Supreme Court. Court reporters typically cover what we refer to colloquially as “lower courts.” In the “lower courts,” of New York City most courthouses are supervised by a court reporter in charge or “CRIC.” These CRICs coordinate with a supervising court reporter and/or chief clerk when necessary. I am informed that in many courthouses, the CRIC title is obsolete and has been replaced with “county supervising court reporter.” The county supervising court reporters report to a “citywide supervising court reporter.” In Supreme Court, the courthouses are overseen by principal court reporters. The principal court reporters coordinate with chief clerks when necessary. Court jobs are all ranked with a judicial grade (JG) number, and that number links to your pay. Court reporters are JG-24. Senior court reporters are JG-27. The Supreme Court of the State of New York is our state’s highest trial court. It deals with the adjudication of felony criminal cases and civil cases with damages over $25,000. Then there are the “lower” courts. In New York City, we have criminal courts that handle criminal arraignments, violations, and misdemeanors. We have civil courts that handle cases under $25,001 in damage. We have family courts where people can file petitions for family matters, including the issuance of orders of protection. A court structure chart is also available. Do not be fooled by the terminology “lower courts.” All of the matters where court reporters and senior court reporters are assigned are extremely important, as are both titles.

The Unions:

In New York City, if you work in the “lower courts,” or grand jury, you are represented in the Local 1070 union. If you work in the Supreme Court, you are represented by ASSCR. Local 1070 is comprised of a number of different titles. Every title has its own chapter leadership, and the chapter leadership works with the main leadership to solve problems. In Local 1070, the chapter leaders generally perform union steward duties when directed by the president or vice president, or whenever necessary. In ASSCR, there are the officers and the executive committee. The officers can be thought of as the decision-making body of the union and the ones who carry out any union-steward-type duties. The executive committee typically assists the officers by keeping apprised of union news. The way one runs for a union office is decided by the organization’s constitution and bylaws. For example, in ASSCR, a nominating committee is formed and nominates a slate. If someone that wants to run is not nominated by the nominating committee, then they have to follow the constitution and bylaws. Generally court reporters and senior court reporters that do not work in New York City are represented by CSEA, a massive conglomerate of titles, workers, and workplaces. My experience with and knowledge of CSEA is too limited to write about its organizational structure. The most important thing to understand about a union is that it negotiates your employment contract for you. If there is something you want in your workplace, you need to let union leadership know. Employment contracts cover a vast number of topics including vacation time, sick time, disciplinary procedures, grievance procedures, employee standards and employer obligations. Raises, increments, and longevity pay are all things that are addressed through your union as well. There are two more important things about union membership. First, your union has a duty to represent every member equally. Second, you generally cannot refuse lawful orders unless compliance would lead to imminent life-threatening danger. Insubordination can cause you disciplinary problems up to and including termination. If you are being questioned by a supervisor, you have Weingarten Rights. You have the right to have a union representative present if a conversation with your employer can adversely impact your employment or working conditions in any way. The employer usually has zero obligation to inform you of these rights, and you must assert them.

The Job:

A lot of stuff is on-the-job training. There are a lot of court-specific quirks that wouldn’t make sense to go into, such as night court and sealed criminal matters. Your first day on the job, you want to ask for common briefs and terms. In addition to our salary, when judges, lawyers, litigants, or members of the public ask for matters to be transcribed, we get transcript money as laid out in Part 108. Those terms, as far as I know, have been the same since 1999, so it’s a real lesson in the value of court reporters. A lot of transcription service firms jack up their rates every few years. By contrast, court reporters are consistent and reliable. We are responsible for maintaining equipment to take down our notes and produce and bind transcripts. We’re talking about a printer, ink, paper, computer, cables, stenotype, and transcript covers. Personally I am a big fan of pre-punched three-hole paper and A6 transcript covers. The drawback to using A6 covers is that you require different covers for differently-sized transcripts. Reporters that use standard transcript covers and separate fasteners do not have this problem.

There are a few things that are universally frowned on or just plain illegal. Stealing time? Bad. Stealing supplies? Bad. Being habitually late? Bad. Be on time and ready to work. Remember when switching over from freelance to employment that you have a boss now. If you have doubts about something, you should ask your boss for guidance. Coworkers can also be a big help. You’re an employee, and you are now covered by all of the employee rights laws, including the New York State Human Rights Law, the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s Title VII, Workers Compensation, and unemployment, et cetera. The most important thing about the job is not to take advice from some guy’s blog if it’s different from your court rules or boss’s instructions.

Interested in a career in the courts? Check out this NY Courts publication.

This concludes the “guide” portion of this post. If you’re interested in a really weird story about why I wrote this post, keep reading. If you don’t really care, feel free to stop reading.

The History of this Post:

Over the last few years I’ve had lots of people write me about various topics. Usually it’s well-meaning or polite people who have a grammar suggestion, topic suggestion, or information. I love those people. I even love the people who come on my blog and disagree with me. Separate from those people, starting maybe two or three years ago, someone sent me about 48 e-mails through an anonymous proxy. The e-mails were usually nonsensical, poorly written, or tried to turn me against other reporters. Sometimes they masqueraded as helpful advice or a hint at a story that didn’t exist. When the e-mail campaign failed to turn me against my best allies, this person began to infiltrate our Facebook groups under the fake name Jared Leno. Jared Leno proceeded to write rude comments to agencies that would come on our job boards to post jobs. At that point, I called him or her out on what they were doing and I alerted Facebook admins of groups where I was a member so that Jared could no longer use that fake identity to harass court reporters. Jared did what all bullies do when they lose, “he” whined and cried.

Jared/Anonymous then turned to Reddit. As some people know, we have the r/stenography subreddit, the r/courtreporting subreddit, and the r/courtreporters subreddit. The admins of r/stenography and r/courtreporting appear to be either absent or squatting, and at one point we had frequent posts from our Mystery Messenger (MM). One intrepid reporter started r/courtreporters so that we could have a space with an active admin, and we began to report the MM for harassment. “They” constantly create new accounts so that they can spread disinformation, avoid bans, and make comments about my blog. One of their favorite “jabs” is that I am an official and I write about freelance often. There are two main strategies when you’re dealing with trolls. The first is to ignore it. Sometimes this works. If someone is doing something to annoy you, and you don’t show that you’re annoyed, sometimes they go away. The problem we face here is that there are people that are going to Reddit to ask legitimate questions about our field. So if we just leave these boards a confusing, spammy mess, we’re going to leave the impression that this is a dead field or that we’re all lunatics spouting nonsensical drivel. Strategy two? Drown the spammy posts out with reality. So if you’re on Reddit, definitely subscribe to those channels. They’re a great way to get information out to the public. If you’re not on Reddit, it’s free, it’s generally anonymous, and it can be fun.

It’s been an interesting relationship. At first I believed that MM was a court reporter in pain. I tried many times to reach out and help. As time went on, I saw that it was much more likely to be someone who hates steno and someone whose IQ is high enough to use the internet but low enough that they have nothing better to do with their life than to get my blog clicks. Maybe it’s Steve Hubbard or Justin “Mr. Stenoless” Higgins. Who knows? All I know is MM is a great case study in being your own worst enemy. Their tirades have helped my blog grow its readership by almost 400% 2018 to 2019 and an additional 40% 2019 to 2020. Without MM’s unassailable genius I never could’ve come up with the work of art that is this blog post. If I could make one plea to MM, please do not find anything better to do with your time than follow me across the internet. Without your 1/31/21 post and unending struggle to get my attention, today would not have happened. Thank you for these wonderful years of service.

It was a tough decision on whether to publish this story. Some in my circle believe that talking about an anonymous “agitator” gives them more power. But perhaps knowing that this situation exists will help others identify MM by their inarticulate, artless writing as they continue to impersonate court reporters and spam court reporting groups. Perhaps others who have been e-mailed anonymously by this person will be able to identify that there is malicious intent there sooner than I was able to. I know at least one other person that received communications from MM. There’s bound to be more, right?

You literally asked for this. LOL. How about that?
Now all of this information will be easier for court reporters to find.

Addendum:

As of January 2024 it seems the court system is reclassifying court reporters (JG-24) as noncompetitive. I’ve also seen remarks that they’ll get no union protection for five years and that the union is fighting this. So please understand that as of 2024, some of this information is now outdated.

June Jettisons 2020 (Jobs Post)

Time to jettison whatever’s not working for us and have a look at the jobs posted around the internet for June 2020. Having a hard time this year? Consider finding a mentor! There are many mentoring programs available, and even Facebook groups conducting mentoring sessions. There are lots of general job listings to wade through at both NCRA and USCRA. NCRA’s also looking for a content specialist!

In the New York area, we still have the New York grand jury reporter posting up. The DCAS test schedule for reporter/stenographers has not yet been updated. The State’s Verbatim Reporter 1 position remains posted, though it’s a little unclear to me on whether they’re actually hiring. The statewide court reporter provisional posting remains posted by our state court system. Michael DeVito’s contact information is at the bottom of the application. If you are looking to become a court reporter for our courts in New York State, you should contact him. I had one very brief e-mail exchange with him months ago, and it left me with a great impression. Every prospective reporter hire with questions should make an effort to contact him. Court reporter is one of maybe six titles that have been posted throughout the pandemic, and in my view, it outlines the need for stenographic court reporters, even if there are not immediate hirings. There has been no civil service test posting, but it’s worth checking the exams page every month if court is the dream job! In our federal courts, the Southern District has a posting up. The federal judiciary jobs page shows New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, and South Carolina all have spots for stenographic reporters.

Many have asked about CART. I have a lack of familiarity with CART, but I do know there’s a CART provider directory. Many are current or past practitioners. Many are out there and willing to answer questions when asked. Let’s put it this way, if you knock on 100 doors, at least a few are going to open. The world is at your fingertips in exploring this wonderful side to reporting and stenography.

Every month I bring jobs posts. I can’t give people the jobs. I can’t post all the jobs. But if one person walks away with an idea, or a place to search, or a plan to move forward in their career, it’s worth it! I encourage people to continue sharing and promoting all the different ways to find work.

Sexual Harassment for Stenos

I’ve had the privilege of reading about the recently reported case of harassment by a judge in Illinois of a stenographer and police officer. Cook County Judge Mauricio Araujo is charged with having asked a stenographer “how much” for sex. Of course, this is the kind of behavior that makes headlines. But inevitably, there is something that happens any time an event like this makes papers. Many of my contemporaries, coworkers, readers of my blog, and just people in general begin to share their stories of the time that they were harassed or the kinds of experiences that they’ve had to deal with. Some of it is relatively tame and mutually laughed away, and some of it is downright illegal and should never be suffered by anyone in the workplace.

With every single one of those victims in mind, let’s start an informative discussion about what you might be able to do with regard to sexual harassment in your workplace. For purposes of this discussion I will focus primarily on New York State and federal law, because that’s where I am most knowledgeable, and I encourage all of us to spend some time researching and spreading information about our own individual states.

What is Sexual Harassment?

Before we do anything, let’s define what we’re talking about. When we discuss sexual harassment, there are three common forms of it. There is sexual harassment as defined in employment law, which is typically ongoing remarks due to a person’s sex, an ongoing pattern of discriminatory behavior because of a person’s sex, or retaliation for a person’s refusal of quid-pro-quo proposals from a manager. Succinctly, treating somebody adversely because of their sex is illegal. This logic extends to the manager who starts putting you on bad shifts because you won’t date him or her, or the coworker who continuously asks you to date him or her. The idea is the same: They are treating people adversely, affecting their working conditions, because of sex. The EEOC describes it as behavior so frequent or severe it creates a hostile work environment. The majority of this post will be about this primary type of employment harassment.

The second form of harassment is criminal harassment. Every state is going to have different laws on this, but criminal harassment can include things from simple Penal Law violations like Penal Law 240.26 harassment, which can include striking or following someone, to things like Penal Law 120.50, stalking, which is more or less to engage in a course of conduct that puts someone in reasonable fear of kidnapping or physical injury. This second form of harassment can be reported to the police or your local district attorney. The authorities can decide whether to bring charges or ask the criminal court for an order of protection on your behalf. If you are being harassed by someone you have had an intimate relationship with, you may be eligible to apply for an order of protection in family court, or in whatever court handles family law in your jurisdiction. Empower yourself and take a stand against this kind of treatment — and know you’re not alone.

The third form of harassment is harassment that doesn’t violate the law. Very briefly, people have very differing opinions when it comes to what the law should be, how harassment should be defined, and how seriously different events should be taken. It’s fair to give credit to this third type of harassment in that it can be unsettling, uncomfortable, or otherwise a rotten experience for its victims. Note that employers are generally allowed to set their individual sexual harassment policies very strictly, so even behavior that is otherwise legal may violate your employer’s sexual harassment policy and get an offender fired. That said, respectfully, we’re going to go back to harassment in an employment context.

Employees.

With the understanding that the majority of stenographers nationwide are freelancers, I will start with employees because it is simpler to describe. Succinctly, under our federal law, the Civil Rights Law of 1964, Title VII, employers with 15 or more employees have a duty to stop discrimination against protected traits in the workplace. Protected traits include things like your race, creed, color, and sex.

So when we talk about harassment, we’re talking about discrimination that is occurring because of one’s sex. This can take many forms including a man constantly describing sexually explicit conquests to another male employee despite being told to stop because he’s “one of the guys” to, as earlier described, a supervisor requesting sexual favors in exchange for a more favorable job outcome or working condition. Generally, under the law, offhand comments or one-time incidents are not harassment. Generally, the unwelcome sexual harassment has to cause a hostile work environment from both your perspective and the perspective of a reasonable person. What this means is that it may hurt your a claim of harassment if you were inviting the harasser to make inappropriate comments, or if the “average person” wouldn’t consider it conduct so abusive or hostile that it would adversely impact their working conditions. Obviously, every situation is different, and there are a million reasons a complainant might make light of a situation, so you should know that even if you are unsure if the behavior violates the law, you may report it.

Typically, when you are being harassed at work, you must inform the employer. The employer has a duty to make that harassment stop. If the harassment does not stop, then you may file a charge with the EEOC. The EEOC will typically get your side of the story, get your employer’s side of the story, and then either attempt to mediate, take the case on your behalf, or give you a right to sue letter, which allows you to file a civil lawsuit against your employer for not making the harassment stop. A special note here, the right to sue letter sometimes has language such as the EEOC did not find discrimination — this “finding” doesn’t mean anything. The EEOC is not obligated to investigate deeply, and the courts do not hold you in any lower standing because of this letter. It is a standard letter which gives you a cause of action, a legal right, to sue. You can even, as far as I know, appeal the decision with the EEOC or request a hearing.

If you feel you are going to go through with a lawsuit, it is a good idea to speak to an employment lawyer right away, even before you get a right to sue letter, and possibly before you file an EEOC charge. If you are compelled to bring a case without a lawyer, you should definitely contact the local district court’s pro se unit. You will need to draft a legal complaint that meets the standards set by the Twombly and Iqbal cases, meaning you will have to draft a complaint that alleges facts that make out a valid claim. If it says “defendant harassed me,” that’s conclusory. If it says “defendant pushed me into a corner and said if I wanted to keep my job, I’d better do what defendant says,” that’s a factual statement. Overall, a good employment lawyer can go to bat for you and make that part of the process happen. The NYC Bar runs a legal referral service, and many lawyers waive their consultation fee. Some associations and lawyers also run legal clinics to help people with their legal questions if you have absolutely nobody else to turn to.

Ultimately, when you file an EEOC charge can be very important. There is a fairly strict 180-day time limit. For this reason, some individuals make a charge with the EEOC immediately upon notifying their employer of the harassment. Again, there is nothing wrong with this, and it is just asserting one’s right to not be harassed at work. 180 days may seem like a lot, but for a victim of ongoing harassment who is afraid to come forward, it can come and go in the blink of an eye. Pay special attention to when the bulk of the harassment you are looking to complain about happened.

Also know the process for filing a charge of discrimination may be different if you are a federal employee.

A quick note about retaliation. Often victims of workplace abuse do not speak up because they fear being ostracized or bullied by coworkers, supervisors, or other agents of the employer. This can be a very difficult decision to make, and nobody can ever blame a victim who does not come forward out of fear of further and amplified mistreatment. That being said, you should know that even if your claim of harassment is completely incorrect — meaning you believed there was harassment but the person you complained about is found to have not violated the law at all — you are still one hundred percent entitled to be free from retaliation. More abusive employers may suddenly try to put you on a work performance log, or switch your assignment to make you quit. If your employment is adversely impacted, you can file another charge with the EEOC, and even an employer that was totally in the clear can find themselves in hot water by retaliating against or allowing retaliation against an employee that has made a complaint to the employer or filed a charge with the EEOC.

A final important fact: The law recognizes that these situations are often complex, and there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. The employer is obligated to make the harassment stop. Some employers do that by firing the harasser. Some employers do that by offering additional training to the harasser. Some employers do that by giving the harasser an ultimatum, or transferring the harasser elsewhere. As a complainant, it is best for your own peace of mind to go into the situation with a mind towards resolution. This isn’t to say that people that commit harassment don’t deserve to be fired or that there aren’t cases where the employer does not take strong enough action, but it is to say that the reality is that the law allows a very wide variety of solutions, and if the harassment stops, you may have to come to terms with the harasser keeping their job.

Employees in New York, I do urge you to skip on to the “True IC” section, where we will address more rights you have.

Independent Contractors (Misclassified).

If you are an independent contractor but the hiring entity — the company or person that is hiring you as an independent contractor — is treating you as an employee, you may generally make the argument that you are a misclassified employee and that you are entitled to all the protections we just laid out above. In the post Workers Rights, we got right down to it and brought out the cold truth: Employers stand to make 30 percent more by misclassifying their employees. There is huge money in misclassifying employees. Honestly, if they are having you carry around their advertising material, micromanaging the manner in which you perform the work, and generally exercising direction and control over you with regard to the job you do for them, you may have a valid claim that you are a misclassified employee. Of course, this argument is so much legalese for the average person, that if you feel you fit into this category, it is likely in your best interest to talk to a lawyer about it.

Remember this: If an employer is giving you a 1099 and then using you as an employee, that’s illegal. What you both call the relationship is irrelevant. What matters is how they treat you. As a quick example, California came up with a three-part independent contractor test that is one of the strictest in the nation. If the work performed is the same as the hiring entity’s business, the hired entity should actually be an employee. Logically, this creates two ways of thinking. 1. Court reporting businesses aren’t in the business of court reporting, but finding court reporters, which the courts have ruled an unpersuasive argument in whether or not they should follow regulatory rules (Moose v US Legal). 2. Court reporting businesses are misclassifying their employees as independent contractors. Other states like New York include this in their determinations for things like Workers Compensation, but we do not as of today have a strict standard, and all cases are done on a case-by-case basis.

Independent Contractors (True IC).

Now we get to independent contractors who are indisputably independent contractors. It’s a sad thing to report that there is basically no protection for independent contractors federally. It is more or less legal for you to be discriminated against and harassed, and there does not seem to be any movement in Congress to pass laws stopping any of the behavior mentioned in this post. Notably, there are some articles out there that talk about complaints and possibilities for federal contractors or employees of contractors receiving federal money, but the hard truth is that a discrimination claim as an independent contractor is largely a lost cause. Until our Congress or our president act and make it clear that the workers of the gig economy should be protected, sexual harassment against independent contractors will be legal.

Or is it? If you are a New Yorker, we actually have in our constitution a section that has come to be known as the New York State Human Rights Law. New York City also has a New York City Human Rights Law. Both of these largely mirror Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and prevent discrimination based on protected traits or classes. Generally, it is even easier to bring a claim under the New York City Human Rights Law than under Title VII. The New York City Human Rights Law, in the words of some lawyer blogs, puts less of a burden on victims of sexual harassment bringing a claim. Even luckier, the legislature has amended the New York State Human Rights Law to demand that employers protect non-employees in the workplace.

What does this mean? This means just like an employee, you have the right to go to our New York State Division of Human Rights or an employment lawyer and get help with sexual harassment you receive “at work” or “in the workplace” whether you are an independent contractor or an employee. The bottom line is that the place you are working at has a legal duty to make the harassment stop. Remember that unlike Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 1964, the New York State Human Rights Law protects sexual orientation. Understand that in New York, whether you’re an employee or an independent contractor, you have these rights, and rights only matter when you assert them.

Empowerment.

We live in a time when knowledge is at our fingertips. Any person could string together a bunch of links and some explanations about this stuff. Far be it from me to say that my perspective is the right one. But I see it as this: We know there are victims out there, and we know that these sorts of things happen. Therefore, it is down to us to share this knowledge with those who are facing these problems, and create an environment where harassment and retaliation are not only the exception, but eradicated. Personally, I have seen a community where, when these things happen, stenographers stand more or less unified with each other. It’s through that kind of unity and solidarity that makes this a great field to work in, and can make this a field that teaches all of its members how to respond to or what they can do when they face sexual harassment or workplace discrimination. Simply put, the way forward is together.

August 12, 2019 update:

NEW YORK has apparently taken further steps since my article to facilitate judicial accessibility for sexual harassment victims, including lowering the standard by which such allegations may come to court.