Relying primarily on the paradigm of sexual harassment, this presentation and outline provides a brief overview of the federal law prohibiting discrimination and harassment in employment and then focuses on employer liability for unlawful harassment by supervisors, as defined by two recent U. S. Supreme Court opinions and a resulting EEOC Enforcement Guidance. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of an individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin . The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of an individual's disability . The Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of an individual's age of 40 or older .
Harassment is a form of discrimination.
Standards for Employer Liability. The legal standard for determining whether or not an employer may be held liable for unlawful harassment in the workplace depends upon the position of the harasser relative to the target of the harassment. Employer is liable for unlawful harassment whenever the harasser is of a sufficiently high rank to fall within that class who may be treated as the employer's proxy. Examples, include president, owner, partner, corporate officer. In local government context, it is safe to assume that unlawful harassment by mayor, city manager, town manager, county executive, sheriff, and other officials of similar rank would be imputed automatically to employer.