Supreme Court Ruling

The Supreme Court on June 26, 1998 made employers more liable for incidents of sexual harassment.  In Rulings on two sexual harassment cases, Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, and Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth, the Supreme  Court basically stated that the employer is responsible for the actions of the supervisor, even when the employer is unaware of the supervisor's behavior.  An employer can no longer claim that they did not know about the sexual harassment because the employee did not inform them, nor can they claim that they were unaware of the supervisor's behavior.  The Supreme Court also stated that the Court will no longer heavily rely on two different forms of sexual harassment, "quid pro quo" and "hostile work environment."  The Court called these two forms of sexual harassment "limited utility" in assessing employer liability.  As a result, an employee that refuses the unwelcome sexual harassment of a supervisor, and who suffers no adverse job consequences, can still bring a sexual harassment lawsuit against his/her employer if the employee can show they were discriminated against by the sexual content.  The employee will not necessarily be required to show a loss of advancement, retaliation, loss of income, or stress as they once did under "quid pro quo" and "hostile work environment."  They will need to show that the nature of the sexual content they experienced caused them to experience discrimination.

As an employer, you have to deal with sexual harassment complaints.  GRAVELY CONSULTING, INC. can provide you with a comprehensive and timely investigation to uncover the facts of the allegation, and make recommendations on next step actions.