Chapter 7:  Describes how Lois found the lawyer, Paul Sprenger, who would represent her the rest of the way.

Read:

1.  Definition of what a "plaintiffs lawyer" does, middle of p. 144.

2.  Why Sprenger took Lois's case, p 151-3

3.  What makes a lawsuit a "class action," p. 157

Chapter 8: Nothing assigned.  Describes the reaction at the mine. Not surprisingly, after the suit was filed, there was reaction at the mine. Some other women at the mine, fearing the backlash that Lois experienced, signed a petition stating they did not support the lawsuit. Obviously this was a blow to Lois personally and also legally, since her lawyers needed to prove that there was a hostile climate for women at the mine. Meanwhile, the mine began to prepare the defense strategy which can be summed up as "nuts and sluts" (see p. 173), which means they were trying to prove that the women in the mine either "asked for it" or were mentally unstable. Also, in this chapter, Pat was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease.

Chapter 9: Nothing assigned.  In this chapter both groups of lawyers began to take depositions, which are the part of a legal proceeding in which both sides get to ask witnesses questions with attorneys present. Depositions can take hours or days, and are sometimes used later on during the trial to "impeach" or discredit what a witness says at trial, especially if they said one thing at the deposition and another at the trial. Depositions also let both sides learn more about the other side's information and witnesses, so they can prepare more effectively for trial and/or begin to hash out a settlement. Depositions are part of the pre-trial process, which is called "discovery." During Lois's deposition, the attorneys asked her about her rape and who Greg's father was. They also suggested that Lois, too, used "foul language" at the mine. At the end of this chapter Sprenger began to realize, with great dread, that the opposing attorneys were not acting rationally and would not agree to settle -- in a situation in which other lawyers might have worked towards a settlement.

Chapter 10:  Trial testimony begins.  Some women in the plant signed a petition saying they had NOT experienced harassment, which would cause problems for Lois and her lawyers.

Read: Sprenger argues that this should be a class action, p. 204-205.

Chapter 11: Nothing assigned.  Lois learned Judge Rosenbaum did, in fact grant their class certification but but did not grant an injunction, which would have helped to protect Lois from retaliation. Meanwhile, Lois's mental and physical health continued to decline, as the years of anxiety and stress began to take their toll. The mine switched lawyers and hired a high-powered Minneapolis firm named Faegre and Benson, and the lawyer who worked for them was Mary Stumo. Sprenger soon realized Stumo had no interest in settling. The case would next be on trial before Judge Kyle in Federal District Court in St. Paul. The first phase would be to determine if Oglebay-Norton was liable (or responsible) for the environment at the mine.

Chapter 12: Nothing assigned. This chapter, as the title notes, describes the liability phase of the trial -- simply put, the judge needed to decide if the mine was responsible and also if they discriminated against women in hiring and promotion. Kyle ruled in favor of the women and said the mine was responsible -- which meant that the only thing remaining to be decided would be the amount of money owed to the women. Secondly, Kyle issued an injunction, which meant that they had to implement a sexual harassment policy at the mine within 30 days. Sprenger/Boler were elated -- finally, they won!

Chapter 13: Nothing assigned. This chapter describes what happened during the "damages phase" which was supposed to demonstrate how they had been harmed and how much money they were due.  The opposing lawyers worked on digging up every aspect of the women's pasts in an attempt to prove they were mentally harmed by other events, not by working in the mine.  Everything was fair game, including Lois's sexual assault.

Chapter 14: SKIM.  This chapter describes the damages phase of the trial, which started after the depositions you read about in Chapter 13. This phase was very distressing to all the women involved (see p. 318-319 for some particularly upsetting examples.) Basically the women were put on trial and all of their past behavior, including sexual activity, was mentioned. On a day they later called "Black Monday" it was particularly awful.

Chapter 15: Nothing assigned.  This chapter describes Lois's experience on the stand (which as you might imagine was not good) and Sprenger begins to accept that they judge would likely rule against them.

Chapter 16: Nothing assigned.  Judge McNulty issued his ruling and the damages he awarded were "shockingly low."  See p. 346 if you're curious.  McNulty also revealed that Lois had been raped in his public report.  He also revealed private details of the other women and was insulting towards them.  Another judge, Judge Kyle, upheld McNulty's ruling. From there, their only recourse was to appeal to the 8th Circuit Court.  U.S. Circuit Courts are very prestigious courts -- they are one level below the U.S. Supreme Court.  In 1997, the Circuit Court rejected McNulty's ruling and ordered a new trial and damages phase.  In a sense, that is a great victory for the women! But understandably they were not excited about thinking about re-doing all of that effort.

Chapter 17: The very last individual judge to hear their case is Judge Tunheim, who presided over the jury damages trial. (Think of it as a "re-do" of the damages phase.) Yet they did not end up with the jury trial due to the fact that they decided to settle. 

Read p. 376-end of the chapter so you'll know what they settled for.

Epilogue: Read the entire (short) epilogue so you'll know how it turned out for the attorneys and the women.