News & Analysis as of

Harassment Hostile Environment Summary Judgment

Foley & Lardner LLP

California Supreme Court Affirms Single Comment Can Constitute Harassment and Addresses Standard for Retaliation

Foley & Lardner LLP on

In a July 29, 2024, opinion, the California Supreme Court reaffirmed that a single use of a racial epithet can be severe enough to be actionable harassment under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA)....more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Get with the Pronoun: Eleventh Circuit Rules Pervasive Misgendering Is Harassment

If an employer or coworker persistently uses a transgender worker’s wrong name or identified pronoun, can that constitute a hostile work environment in violation of Title VII? In Copeland v. Georgia Department of Corrections,...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Seasonal Employee May Pursue Disability-Based Hostile Work Environment Claim, Court Rules

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Reversing a district court’s grant of summary judgment, the Iowa Court of Appeals held an employee presented sufficient evidence for her disability-based hostile work environment claim to proceed to trial, despite the...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Eight Circuit Maintains High Bar for Hostile Work Environment Claims

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a manager’s behavior toward an employee was “reprehensible and improper,” but did not rise to the level of a hostile work environment under Title VII, and...more

Cozen O'Connor

HR Investigations Pay Dividends: A Healthier Workplace and Protection in Court

Cozen O'Connor on

Many HR professionals spend a significant amount of time investigating employee complaints and, depending on the outcome of these investigations, implementing corrective measures to halt and prevent bad behavior in the...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Seventh Circuit Says One Use of "N-Word" Insufficient for Racial Harassment Claim

In recent years, a number of federal appellant courts, including the Fourth Circuit, have issued opinions finding that a single use of a racial slur can be enough to constitute a hostile and offensive working environment...more

Butler Snow LLP

Take This Job And Shove It – Alabama Supreme Court Elaborates On “Voluntarily” Leaving Employment

Butler Snow LLP on

If you quit your job because of a hostile work environment, is it still “voluntary”? According to the Alabama Supreme Court’s July 12, 2019 opinion in Arnold v. Hyundai Manuf. Ala., LLC, it is. In Arnold, Hyundai hired Arnold...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Once Is Enough: Tennessee Federal Court Rules Single Use of ‘N-Word’ By Co-Worker Sufficient to Get Hostile Work Environment Claim...

Usually, once is not enough, at least in the hostile work environment context. Unless, as the court found in Ronnie L. Outlaw v. SBH Services, Inc., it is. Typically, a single incident of harassment – especially by a...more

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace

Gardner v. CLC of Pascagoula, LLC –What Constitutes “Severe and Pervasive” Conduct With Respect to “Third-Party Harassment”?

Employers may be liable to their employees for harassment by non-employees under Title VII. Courts have found liability for this so-called “third-party harassment” in some of the following fact-specific contexts: waitresses...more

Sherman & Howard L.L.C.

Supervisor’s Racial Epithets Are “Hellish” Enough

A defendant-employer won summary judgment on a racially hostile environment claim. The district court reached back to old cases and said the employee-plaintiff had to show the work environment was “hellish” to be actionable....more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Once Is Enough: Eleventh Circuit Allows Racial Harassment Claim Against Health Care Provider to Proceed—and Takeaways For...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: In a recent decision, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that the use of the N-Word in the workplace one time is sufficient to trigger a hostile work environment....more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Fifth Circuit Rules Employers Are Not Always Protected From Liability Resulting From Harassment by Nonemployees With Diminished...

Courts have ruled that employees who work with clients with diminished capacity present different challenges when establishing whether the nonemployee’s alleged harassment affected the terms and conditions of the employee’s...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Court Not So Hostile to Employer in Hostile Work Environment Case

Lest you think that no one can win a hostile work environment claim, we have some positive news from the Second Circuit. In Russell v. New York University, et al., the court issued a summary order (which does not have...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Fifth Circuit Warps Time In Decision On The Continuing Violation Doctrine

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held for the first time that the continuing violation doctrine applies even when a plaintiff was subject to harassment that was severe enough to put the...more

McAfee & Taft

Lessons in dealing with an “equal opportunity” harasser

McAfee & Taft on

A new opinion released by the Tenth Circuit provides practical tips to employers dealing with multiple employee complaints alleging generalized harassment and/or discrimination throughout the workplace....more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Finds Rebellious Behavior by Subordinates Insufficient to Constitute Hostile Work Environment

Most hostile environment harassment claims brought under Title VII involve allegations of offensive conduct by the plaintiff’s supervisors or co-workers. In a few situations, the employee alleges that his or her subordinates...more

Mintz - Employment, Labor & Benefits...

Federal Court Says Employer Can Be Liable for Acts of Anonymous Harasser

As a major national company learned recently, employers cannot shirk their obligations to investigate employee complaints of a hostile work environment simply because the identity of the harasser is unknown. Failure to...more

17 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 1

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide