SAN FRANCISCO — Call it the Harvey Weinstein effect.

In years past, powerful men busted for preying on women could pay out large sums in legal settlements or issue public apologies and pledges to reform and then keep right on doing what they were doing.

No longer. Women breaking the culture of silence are putting unprecedented pressure on companies and whole industries to crack down on sexual misconduct in the workplace.

From ESPN abruptly canceling a deal with Barstool Sports over growing criticism of the controversial sport media outlet's sexist content, to New Orleans celebrity chef John Besh stepping down from the company he founded over sexual harassment allegations lodged against him and other male employees, the nation's tolerance for men behaving badly has reached an all-time low.

Tales of sexual misconduct have barreled into the headlines for decades. What's different this time? Not the egregious details but perhaps how people are reacting to Weinstein's behavior, says Noreen Farrell, executive director of Equal Rights Advocates, which fights for women's rights.

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"Because of sheer number and the similarities of stories, we're actually exploring why it happened and not whether it happened," Farrell says. "This feels different."

Or this could be Groundhog Day for sexual harassment — a fleeting moment of national outrage that returns us to the status quo with women, like Weinstein's accusers, continuing to silently suffer through on-the-job abuse so they don't torpedo their careers.

"Why did this happen to these women? It’s economic status. They’re looking for a career, a job, a promotion," says Toni Van Pelt, president of the National Organization of Women. "As long as we keep women from earning a rightful living in every sense of the word, we won't change."

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This time around there's a key new ingredient in play that's helping to fuel more disclosures and build solidarity for women: social media. Hundreds of thousands of women began posting their own experiences of sexual misconduct under the hashtag #MeToo.

After investigations by The New York Times and The New Yorker exposed decades of Weinstein's predatory misbehavior, the consequences were harsh and swift. Accused by dozens of women, including major celebrities, Weinstein was canned from his job running the movie studio that bears his name and from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild. And he's being investigated by the LAPD for a rape allegation. In recent days, Weinstein has denied non-consensual sex and said he has a different recollection of events.

That dizzying fall fueled a domino effect that has touched workplaces across the country.

In August, producer Isa Hackett accused Amazon Studios chief Roy Price of making unwanted sexual remarks in technology news outlet The Information. It wasn't until after the Weinstein scandal broke that Price was forced out.

More allegations erupted from the movie industry with the Los Angeles Times reporting that 38 women had come forward to accuse director James Toback of sexual harassment. Toback has denied the charges, but the total number of women making accusations now tops 200.

This week, senior political analyst Mark Halperin, who often appears on MSNBC and NBC News, is leaving his contributor post after five women said he sexually harassed them while he held a powerful position at ABC News more than a decade ago.

On Tuesday, one-time New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier apologized to past staffers for behavior that accusers say included inappropriate touching. The Emerson Collective, a philanthropic organization led by Steve Jobs' widow Laurene Powell Jobs, immediately pulled its support for a magazine Wieseltier was set to publish.

Fashion photographer Terry Richardson, who has taken photos of Beyonce, Rihanna and Miley Cyrus, was banned by Conde Nast for sexual assault allegations that have been circulating since 2010. In a statement, Richardson admitted he sometimes behaved in a sexually explicit manner during photo shoots.

And Abigail Johnson, the chief executive of Fidelity Investments, told employees that the financial giant has no tolerance for misconduct after reports emerged alleging two company executives had been forced out for sexual harassment.

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"We're now at an inflection point where companies, and even entire industries, need to make a pretty basic decision: Take this seriously, or get left behind," says Joelle Emerson, founder and CEO of Paradigm, a strategy firm that consults with tech companies on diversity and inclusion.

Yet, it's not clear that America is ready to take the shocking disclosures trickling out of nearly every sector of the economy as seriously as it should.

Exhibit A: Many powerful men have faced serious allegations yet few consequences.

A prime example: Singer R. Kelly has emerged relatively unscathed from accusations of underage sex and abusive treatment of women after reports in BuzzFeed and Rolling Stone. Kelly, who denied the allegations through his attorney, canceled a few dates on his concert tour.

Dozens of women have accused Bill Cosby of using date-rape drugs to molest them throughout his career. Yet, despite the multitude of victims, a judge in his June sexual assault trial declared a mistrial after jurors said they were deadlocked after six days of deliberations. He will be retried, prosecutors say.

One of the most famous incidents — the Access Hollywood tape released right before the election of then Republican candidate Donald Trump boasting of groping or impulsively kissing women — didn't derail his campaign. A month later, he won the election with the support of 42% of women, a shocking development to many who turned out in the millions in national marches to protest his remarks.

And, if history is any guide, workplace-rattling change will not come easily.

Consider that the term sexual harassment was coined by author and journalist Lin Farley in the mid-1970s. In 1986, the Supreme Court ruled that sexual harassment was a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

And, in 1991, Anita Hill thrust sexual harassment into national debate during the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. In April, Hill told USA TODAY that it was time for a nation that too willingly accepts men's excuses to change the status quo. "We have a whole host of people accepting that as just something men do as opposed to understanding it as predatory behavior that is not only immoral but is also illegal," Hill said.

The nation's response to charges of sexual harassment began to shift in July 2016 when Gretchen Carlson's lawsuit forced the resignation of Roger Ailes, chairman and chief executive of Fox News. That a woman could take down a man of his power and stature emboldened more women to come forward and for more journalists to pursue the rumors and whisper about Bill O'Reilly and Weinstein.

Heads quickly began to roll, turning 2017 into the year sexual misconduct became a fireable offense.

Six women have reached settlements with Fox News or O'Reilly after having made allegations against the host, whom the network fired in April, according to The New York Times. O'Reilly has repeatedly denied charges of wrongdoing, as did Ailes before his death.

Software engineer Susan Fowler's blog post about sexual harassment and misconduct at Uber ignited an uproar, toppling CEO Travis Kalanick and unleashing a series of revelations in Silicon Valley that led to the ouster of two technology investors, Dave McClure and Justin Caldbeck.

Now Fowler is a celebrity in the business world, is working on a book and has a Hollywood movie deal. And she and others are pushing for fundamental changes in business practices and laws to protect women at work. In August, Fowler petitioned the Supreme Court to consider her experience as it decides whether employees can be forced to abandon their right to pursue class-action lawsuits when they agree in their employment contracts to resolve grievances through arbitration.

California is now considering legislation that would prohibit investors from sexually harassing company founders. Another bill would ban secret settlements in sexual harassment cases.

And while there have been no official changes yet to corporate policies, one legal expert predicts that the practice of general counsels rubber-stamping payments to victims will start to fade.

"If anyone out there just saw this as ever being 'fun' behavior, it's very clear now that it's expensive fun, and company-threatening fun," says Joan Williams, a law professor at the University of California-Hastings and director of the Center for WorkLife Law.

"Will this all end? No it won't. But it will become less common, and when it happens it will last less long. Sexual harassment complaints are now the invisible buzzsaw that can cut down your career or company."

Follow USA TODAY tech reporters Jessica Guynn and Marco della Cava.