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Cite as:  570 U. S. ____ (2013) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash­
ington,  D. C.  20543,  of  any  typographical  or  other  formal  errors,  in  order
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SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 11–556 
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MAETTA VANCE, PETITIONER v. BALL STATE
 
UNIVERSITY 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 

APPEALS FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT
 

[June 24, 2013] 

JUSTICE ALITO delivered the opinion of the Court. 
In this case, we decide a question left open in Burlington 
Industries,  Inc.  v.  Ellerth,  524  U.  S.  742  (1998),  and  Far-
agher  v.  Boca  Raton,  524  U. S.  775  (1998),  namely,  who
qualifies as a “supervisor” in a case in which an employee 
asserts a Title VII claim for workplace harassment? 

Under  Title  VII,  an  employer’s  liability  for  such  har­
assment may depend on the status of the harasser.  If the 
harassing employee is the victim’s co-worker, the employer
is  liable  only  if  it  was  negligent  in  controlling  working 
conditions.  In  cases  in  which  the  harasser  is  a  “super- 
visor,”  however,  different  rules  apply.    If  the  supervisor’s 
harassment  culminates  in  a  tangible  employment  action, 
the employer is strictly liable.  But if no tangible employ­
ment action is taken, the employer may escape liability by 
establishing,  as  an  affirmative  defense,  that  (1)  the  em­
ployer  exercised  reasonable  care  to  prevent  and  correct
any  harassing  behavior  and  (2)  that  the  plaintiff  unrea­
sonably  failed  to  take  advantage  of  the  preventive  or
corrective  opportunities  that  the  employer  provided.    Id., 
at  807;  Ellerth,  supra,  at  765.  Under  this  framework,