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Thomas was nominated to the U. S. Supreme Court by then-President George H. W. Bush, a position that required Senate hearings and confirmation.

The hearings were initially completed, with Thomas's good character being presented as a primary qualification for the high court because he had only been a judge for slightly more than one year.

There had been little organized opposition to Thomas's nomination and his confirmation seemed assured until a report of a private interview of Hill by the FBI leaked out to the press.

The hearings were then reopened, and Hill was called to publicly testify.

Hill said in the October 1991 televised hearings that Thomas had sexually harassed her while he was her supervisor at the Department of Education and the EEOC.

When questioned on why she followed Thomas to the second job after he had already allegedly harassed her, she said she had wanted to work in the civil rights field, she had no alternative job, " and at that time, it appeared that the sexual overtures ... had ended.