Sexual Harassment

Over the last several years employers have started to recognize that sexual comments, lewd jokes and other types of sexual behavior may make employees uncomfortable and efforts should be made to eliminate offensive behavior. Allowing unwelcome conduct to continue may create both a bad working environment and lead to sexual harassment lawsuits. But what about when a…

If you’re the victim of sexual harassment and you complain to management about the offending behavior, what actions must the company take? This question is at the root of many work-place disputes. A recent case from the Tenth Circuit, which includes Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, questioned if a nursing home did enough in…

An Oklahoma judge recently ruled that your past sexual experiences do not affect your right to bring a case for harassment. In a lawsuit against Digicut Systems, a judge determined that a former prostitute – Susan Terry – could bring a case for sexual harassment. Terry, who had previously run a tanning salon that doubled as…

In late August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that “one action” is sufficient to create a hostile work environment claim if it is sufficiently severe, especially uninvited, physical and intimate, bodily contact. In Berry v. Chicago Transit Auth., Cynthia Berry sued the Chicago Transit Authority under Title VII of the 1964…

In a recent Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision, the court determined that a female could pursue a claim of gender discrimination based on sexual harassment and disparate treatment against Verizon Communications, Inc., pursuant to Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The 2d Circuit reversed the lower court decision. Although sexual harassment is one of the most well…

Actions constituting sexual harassment or those that create a hostile work environment can take many forms such as lewd comments, inappropriate touching, and sexually explicit joke telling. Despite the sexual nature of the harassment – actual sexual desire or attraction need not exist to support an inference of sexual discrimination. In a recent sexual harassment case, Rosario v.…

In a recent sexual harassment case, an administrative assistant asserted that her company’s response to her complaints of sexual harassment under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act created a hostile work environment. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania disagreed. In Sheer v. Motorola Inc., E.D. Pa., No. 09-209, an administrative assistant became…

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has recently held that under South Carolina law, an assistant manager constituted a “supervisor” for purposes of bringing a sexual harassment claim. In Whitten v. Fred’s Inc., 4th Cir., No. 09-1265, 4/1/10, the 4th Circuit held that the test to determine whether a harasser is a…

In a surprise decision, the 11th circuit has decided to rehear a claim for alleged sexual harassment and retaliation. Corbitt v. Home Depot involves two men who claim that a male human resources manager made unwanted sexual advances toward the men. When they complained, the men were allegedly fired in retaliation. Last August the 11th Circuit Court of…

The law of sexual harassment requires employees who believe they have been harassed to follow their employers’ anti-harassment procedures-which typically require employees to complain to a high company official in order to allow the company to remedy the situation-before they may file a sexual harassment lawsuit. A recent decision from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, Adams v.…