Sexual Harassment Victims and the 'Reasonableness' Equation

When a supervisor is identified in a lawsuit as the alleged harasser, the employer may still avoid liability, under certain circumstances, as long as the harassment did not result in a 'tangible employment action.' To this end, most, if not all, employers are intimately familiar with the U.S. Supreme Court's <i>Faragher</i> and <i>Ellerth</i> decisions issued in 1998. Yet during the past eight years since the decisions, employers have faced the brunt of scrutiny from courts evaluating the application of this affirmative defense.

25 minute read June 28, 2007 at 10:20 AM
By
Debra M. Leder
Sexual Harassment Victims and the 'Reasonableness' Equation

Employers have been ever mindful of their obligation to take complaints of sexual harassment seriously, and to act promptly and effectively to correct those problems in the workplace. The benefits of doing so can often be essential, not to mention substantial.

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