Sexual Harassment

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.…

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.…

As we wrote in a prior post about the case of Reeves v. C.H. Robinson on sexual harassment, an employee complaining about sexual harassment in the workplace must prove that harassment was severe and pervasive, and not merely sporadic or occasional. Unfortunately for the employee in a recent case, Webb-Edwards v. Orange County Sherriff’s Office, even though…

A good sexual harassment case has come out of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals-the federal appeals court for the states of Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. In Reeves v. C.H. Robinson, a female employee claimed that for a period of almost three years there were daily instances of sexually offensive language and conduct in her…