Enough is Enough: An Open Letter from Survivors to TIME’S UP + National Women’s Law Center
By: Alison Turkos
Tags: Metoo, Legal, Me Too Movement, Survivor, Sexual Assault

Enough is Enough: An Open Letter from Survivors to TIME’S UP + National Women’s Law Center Alison Turkos Aug 9·9 min read

To the TIME’S UP Foundation Governing Board & The National Women's Law Center Board of Directors:

We write to you as a collective group of survivors and victims who believe TIME’S UP is failing the survivor community. We believed in your mission and hoped that your investment in eradicating sexual assault and harassment in the workplace would change the tide to support us as we came forward, but we are disappointed.

TIME’S UP has abandoned the very people it was supposed to champion. The board continues to fail to heed the outcry from survivors. TIME’S UP is failing all survivors.

We were dismayed yet unsurprised to see TIME’S UP leaders Roberta Kaplan and Tina Tchen named in the 165 page Attorney General’s report investigating the allegations of sexual harassment by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. In the detailed report, Kaplan and Tchen, in their roles at TIME’S UP, weaponized their knowledge of survivors experiences to help Governor Cuomo and his office retaliate against at least one of nearly a dozen women who were courageous in speaking up about the myriad of ways he abused his power and violated their bodies in the workplace. Furthermore, we were vexed to see TIME’S UP board member, Hilary Rosen, characterize this breach of trust as ‘a good deed being punished’ and that it’s normal for TIME’S UP to “[do] what they always do, give good advice to politicians to tell the truth and not attack their accusers.” 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. TIME’S UP should be ashamed.

TIME’S UP has prioritized its proximity to power over mission. And now that TIME’S UP’s board members’ and staff’s actions have come to light, you cannot rewrite history by signing open letters to the New York State Senate and Assembly calling on them to remove Governor Cuomo from office when you actively worked to further his defense behind closed doors.

Instead of helping survivors remain at the center of our own stories, we find out in the press that you were consulted by abusers to aid them in victim-blaming and undermining our ability to come forward. This behavior harms all survivors. This behavior discourages survivors from seeking support and speaking out and causes ripples of distrust felt throughout our movement. This behavior has us questioning who we can truly trust. Whether or not you agreed to help, perpetrators of harm felt comfortable reaching out to you for crisis management. That is a problem.

This is not the first time TIME’S UP is complicit in enabling abuse. Earlier this year, TIME’S UP Healthcare board members resigned en masse after allegations that board member Dr. Esther Choo was accused “of brushing off an allegation of sexual misconduct” that was brought to her attention by a coworker at Oregon Health and Science University. Despite calls to step down, Choo remains on the board and is now being represented by fellow board member Roberta Kaplan.

In 2020, the New York Post reported that Kaplan is also representing Goldman Sachs in a workplace sexual harassment case. While the National Women’s Law Center maintains that, “Ms. Kaplan’s decision to represent Goldman Sachs in the matter at hand was made in her personal capacity, and with no involvement by the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund,” we can’t help but feel disheartened that once again a TIME’S UP board member is playing both sides. Our lives are not a game. Our experiences of abuse are not research for your next big case. TIME’S UP cannot be funded by and seek the support of corporations accused of harboring perpetrators of harm. TIME’S UP cannot call for shining a light on sexual harassment and justice while working with our abusers in the shadows.

TIME’S UP is deceiving survivors. You asked us to come to you and trust you with our stories and our cases. We trusted that you had our best interests at heart. We trusted that what you said in public would match the support we’d receive in private. Survivors are so often let down by the system of justice in this country, and it is heartbreaking to see that TIME’S UP has become a willing participant in that never-ending labyrinth. The pattern of your behavior shows you do not deserve our trust any longer without serious structural changes.

TIME’S UP has lost its way.

TIME’S UP and the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund were founded and funded to be visionary organizations meant to provide three-dimensional support to victims and survivors as we navigate the legal system and the public eye. TIME’S UP and TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund were built to advocate for those who make the bold decision to hold our abusers accountable.

But it seems that vision was lost and leadership drifted from who mattered most: survivors and victims.

For those of us who have worked directly with you, we haven’t received the wraparound support that you’ve promised in the press. TIME’S UP leadership has looked the other way while lawyers, funded by the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund, mishandled and neglected cases, missed statutes of limitations deadlines denying us our day in court, and even berating and patronizing survivors during meetings while bungling their cases.

In our experiences, it felt as if TIME’S UP preferred to enable the delays in our cases to the point of dangerous escalation to give the organization the opportunity to swoop in at the last minute, offering minimal solutions to be the heroes for press and donors. In some instances, TIME’S UP has withheld financial assistance and proactive public relations support for survivors and victims, only to pounce when they receive pushback or negative press coverage.

To make matters worse, TIME’S UP has spun these incidents to donors and the press to falsely demonstrate the vitality of their work without regard for the emotional toll it takes on us. Survivors, not donors or the media, should be the driving force behind the work. TIME’S UP designed its entire mission, values, and operation around survivors and victims — it’s time we actually feel it.

Many of us have attempted to have one-on-one conversations with TIME’S UP leadership, but we were overlooked. As we’ve done so many times before as survivors and advocates, we raise our voices now in hope of creating systemic change.

To begin to repair the harm done, we ask that TIME’S UP and the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund:

Conduct a third-party investigation and issue a detailed report illustrating the full extent to which TIME’S UP and National Women’s Law Center board members and staff members have been approached by, offered advice to, or are representing perpetrators of harm. Remove any board members, and staffers, who have supported perpetrators of harm, effective immediately. Return and refuse any donations by individuals and corporations that have active allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault, or are litigating in opposition to survivors. Cease all partnerships with any individuals or corporations that have active allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault, or are litigating in opposition to survivors. Publish a report detailing the breakdown of the TIME’S UP and TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund’s budgets and what percentage of funds are dedicated to survivors and victim’s cases, media relations, and emotional and physical support. Form a Survivor Advisory Council before the end of 2021 to ensure that those being served by TIME’S UP and TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund are directly involved in organizational oversight and strategic visioning. Affirm that a majority of TIME’S UP and TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund programming is led by and inclusive of survivors and victims. Establish a survivor-led vetting process for TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund lawyers and public relations staffers to ensure that all personnel representing survivors and victims have the temperament for and experience in sexual harassment, abuse, misconduct, and assault cases using a survivor-centric lens.

We are the change we want to see. We spoke out about our sexual harassment and sexual assault experiences so that others knew they weren’t alone and could feel supported when they too came forward. We want to create a system of true justice, for survivors and victims, led by survivors and victims. We know there are so many survivors and victims with stories they want to tell. They are simply waiting on a call back from the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund to listen to their case. TIME’S UP must no longer delay our justice.

TIME’S UP’s intent was to make this world a better place for survivors and victims; that can still happen if changes are implemented immediately.

TIME’S UP’s legacy should be lifting up survivor voices and helping us hold our abusers accountable. This is the responsibility and commitment that TIME’S UP made. Survivors put their trust in TIME’S UP. Show up for survivors.

We are asking TIME’S UP to do better by us, and all survivors and victims who come to you seeking counsel. Please don’t make coming forward harder.

As TIME’S UP wrote in the open letter to the CBS board of directors “real progress can only occur with a transparent commitment to long-term structural changes from top to bottom.” This is your opportunity to make real progress.

We believe in the power of survivors. We hope you do too.

Signed,



1. Abby Haglage

2. AD

3. Aerica Shimizu Banks

4. Alaina Hampton, former TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund client

5. Alessandra Biaggi

6. Alexia Norton Jones, former TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund client

7. Alison Turkos

8. Alissa Vierra

9. Allison Ivie

10. Ally Alexander

11. Amanda Wallwin

12. Amelia Tramontano

13. Amy Dorris

14. Andrea Tantaros

15. Angela Webster

16. Annabelle Dixon

17. Anonymous

18. Anonymous

19. Anonymous

20. Anonymous

21. Anonymous

22. Anonymous

23. Anonymous

24. Anonymous

25. Anonymous

26. Anonymous, current TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund client

27. Anonymous, current TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund client

28. Anonymous, former TIME’S UP staffer

29. Anonymous, former TIME’S UP staffer

30. Anonymous, former TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund client

31. Anonymous, former TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund client

32. AQ

33. Asher Lovy

34. AY

35. Belinda Baker

36. c m taylor

37. Cara Thaxton

38. Carolyn G. Curtis

39. Carson Bell

40. Charlotte Bennett

41. Charlotte Laughon

42. Chel Miller

43. Chelsey Glasson

44. Christie Roe

45. Christine S.

46. Clare Lyons, RN

47. CN

48. Colleen Kennedy

49. Crista Anne

50. Danielle Campoamor

51. Delia Harrington

52. Dolores Ann Lozano

53. Dominique Huett, current TIME’S UP Safety Working Group member

54. Drew Dixon

55. DT

56. Eiko Ishiwata

57. Elena Rahona

58. Elizabeth Blackney

59. Elizabeth Crothers

60. Emily O’Malley

61. Emily Reilly

62. Erica L Mitchell

63. Erica Vladimer

64. ES

65. Eva Crowder

66. Fabiola Mendieta-Cuapio

67. Geoff Beane

68. GF

69. Glenda

70. Grace Cunningham

71. Holly G Atkinson

72. I. E. McElroy

73. Jaclyn Friedman

74. Janice L. Daniels, former TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund client

75. Jayna Boyle

76. Jenny Carr

77. Jessica Gottsleben

78. Joan Spinelli

79. JPB

80. JT

81. Julie Macfarlane

82. JZ

83. Karen Boylan

84. Karina

85. Kat Sutherland

86. Katharina Kelton

87. Katherine Barnes

88. Katherine Miller

89. Katie Brennan, former TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund client

90. Katrina Basch

91. Kavita Mehra

92. Kelsey Harper

93. Kieran

94. Kir Selert

95. Laura Goldman

96. Lauren Weingarten, former TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund client

97. Lawren W

98. Leah Hebert

99. Lisa

100. Lizzette Martinez, former TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund client

101. LS

102. Madeline Comer

103. Madison Campbell

104. Marguerite B.

105. Marissa Hoechstetter

106. Marissa McKool, MPH

107. Mary Ellen Oloughlin

108. Mary Rinaldi

109. M.B, former TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund client

110. Megan Malloy, former TIME’S UP staffer

111. Melinda Fox

112. Melissa Schuman

113. Michelle Roy

114. MS

115. Natalie Ryan Fong

116. Natasha Anushri Anandaraja MD, MPH

117. Nicole

118. Pamela Guest, current TIME’S UP Safety Working Group member

119. Pattie Henry

120. Pringl Miller MD FACS

121. Racheal Stirling

122. Rachel Earnest

123. Rachel izzo, BSN RN CEN

124. Roya Gholami

125. Sage Carson

126. Sally Canfield

127. Sam H

128. Sandra Muller

129. Sara Atkins

130. Sarah Nesbitt

131. Sarah Szalavitz

132. SB

133. Seema Zeya

134. Seo-Young Chu

135. Shannon Keeler

136. Sharon

137. Shelley Ross

138. SL

139. ST

140. Stella Safo

141. Susan P.

142. Tara Reade, former TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund client

143. Tasha

144. Teresa Ginsberg

145. Timothy Lennon

146. Verity Nevitt

147. Vivian Chang

148. Wagatwe Wanjuki

149. Yasmeen Hussain

150. Yuh-Line Niou, New York State Assembly for the 65th district

151. Zoe Brock

(If you are a survivor-victim and would like to join us you can sign onto the letter here)

(please note at 3:10pm EST on Tuesday, August 10th, 2021 this letter was edited to include the National Women’s Law Center Board of Directors as addressees)