Rosenberg, Rosalind, 1946-

A professor of history at Barnard College, Rosalind Rosenberg was an expert witness in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's lawsuit against Sears, Roebuck and Company. The EEOC charged Sears with sex discrimination, claiming that women were underrepresented in high-paying commission sales jobs, and that there were disparate salary rates for men and women in certain managerial and administrative positions. Sears maintained that the government's statistics did not prove discrimination, and disputed the EEOC assumption that male and female applicants were equally qualified for and interested in commission sales positions. Two prominent feminist historians, Rosalind Rosenberg for Sears and Alice Kessler-Harris for EEOC, presented conflicting interpretations of women's attitudes toward work and the relative importance of workers' and employers' roles in shaping patterns of employment by sex. The case was tried in 1984 and 1985 in U.S. District Court in Chicago; early in 1986 Judge John A. Nordberg ruled in favor of Sears. A debate, which is documented in Rosenberg's private correspondence and in published articles, 1985-1987, ensued among historians and feminists over these conflicting historical interpretations and the role of feminists in the law courts.

In 1979 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit against Sears, Roebuck and Company for employment practice violations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (1964). Sears was charged with "a pattern and practice" of sex discrimination in two areas: discrimination in the hiring and promotion of women in commission sales jobs, and discrimination in pay in management positions. The plaintiff's case was based on a statistical analysis of the Sears workforce by EEOC statistician Bernard Siskin (see 88v-91v), which claimed to demonstrate disparities between men and women in pay and in commission sales jobs. There were no individual women complainants.

The trial was held in Chicago, Ill., from September 1984 to July 1985; Judge Nordberg decided in favor of Sears in January 1986. Both sides sought to strengthen their case by including historians as expert witnesses. Sears called Rosalind Rosenberg, associate professor of history at Barnard College; the EEOC called Alice Kessler-Harris, professor of history at Hofstra University. RR argued that historically men and women have had different interests, goals, and aspirations regarding work, and that women's own attitudes made them reluctant to take risky jobs in commission sales. Therefore, she concluded, historical forces other than employer discrimination were responsible for the statistical disparities seen in the Sears data. AK-H argued that women historically have made the most of any economic climate, taking whatever jobs have been offered. Women's choice of work can be understood only within the framework of available opportunities. AK-H concluded that Sears had not done enough to counter cultural forces and to open opportunity equally to women.

The Sears case caused a storm of argument among historians of women and feminists. Letters received by RR and articles collected by her, 1985-1987, contested her historical interpretation of women's attitudes to work, and raised the philosophical issue of the role of scholars and feminists in offering their expertise to parties in lawsuits. RR faced heavy criticism from feminists and historians alike.