Opinion ID: 741887
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Hostile Environment Jury Instruction

Text: 8 On appeal, the City argues that the district court erred in instructing the jury on the hostile environment sexual harassment claim because the instruction allowed the jury to find for Davis upon a mere finding of agency, without regard to whether Gross's actions were properly imputed to the City. 3 The City argues that the district court should have instructed the jury that liability was only imputed to the City if the City knew or should have known of Gross's harassment and failed to take proper remedial action. In response, Davis argues that by virtue of Gross's supervisory position, liability for the harassment should be imputed to the City, regardless of the City's actual or constructive knowledge of the harassment. 9 We review the district court's jury instructions for an abuse of discretion. Sherbert v. Alcan Aluminum Corp., 66 F.3d 965, 968 (8th Cir.1995). Our review must consider whether, when taken as a whole, the instructions fairly and adequately submitted the issues to the jury. Id. In this case, we find they did not. 4 10 In the situation of quid pro quo sexual harassment by a supervisor, where the harassment results in a tangible detriment to the subordinate employee, liability is imputed to the employer. Meritor Sav. Bank, FSB v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57, 76, 106 S.Ct. 2399, 2410, 91 L.Ed.2d 49 (1986) (Marshall, J., concurring in judgment). In situations such as the present case alleging hostile environment sexual harassment by a supervisor, however, the standard for imputed liability is less clear. See, e.g., Meritor, 477 U.S. at 72, 106 S.Ct. at 2408 (declining to issue a definitive rule on employer liability in such cases and instructing courts to look to agency principles for the appropriate standard); see also Gary v. Long, 59 F.3d 1391, 1398 (D.C.Cir.) (if employer has policy in place which prohibits sexual harassment and puts employee on notice that supervisor lacks authority to engage in such conduct, employer is insulated from liability for supervisor's actions), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 569, 133 L.Ed.2d 493 (1995); Karibian v. Columbia Univ., 14 F.3d 773, 780 (2d Cir.1994) (employer is liable for supervisor's harassment when supervisor uses his actual or apparent authority to further the harassment and noting differences between high and low supervisors in this regard); Sauers v. Salt Lake County, 1 F.3d 1122, 1125 (10th Cir.1993) (if employer gives supervisor significant control over plaintiff's hiring, firing and employment conditions, employer is liable for supervisor's actions without regard to knowledge or recklessness). In our circuit, we have applied the knew or should have known standard to supervisor-induced hostile environment sexual harassment claims. See, e.g., Smith v. St. Louis Univ., 109 F.3d 1261, 1264 (8th Cir.1997); Kinman v. Omaha Pub. Sch. Dist., 94 F.3d 463, 469 (8th Cir.1996); Callanan v. Runyun, 75 F.3d 1293, 1296 (8th Cir.1996); Burns v. McGregor Elec. Indus., Inc., 955 F.2d 559, 564 (8th Cir.1992). Therefore, we reverse and remand for a new trial on Davis's hostile environment claim. 11 In Smith v. St. Louis University, we used the knew or should have known standard in a case of supervisor-caused hostile environment sexual harassment. Smith, 109 F.3d at 1264. In Smith, an anesthesiology resident alleged she was harassed by the chairman of the anesthesiology department at the university hospital. In reversing the district court's grant of summary judgment for the university, we recited the prima facie elements of a hostile environment sexual harassment claim. 5 One of those elements is that the employer knew or should have known of the harassment yet failed to take proper remedial action. Despite the fact that the plaintiff's supervisor had been the source of the harassment, we did not automatically impute liability to the hospital or alter the knew or should have known language typically used in hostile environment cases. 12 The Smith case is consistent with our other decisions. See, e.g., Callanan v. Runyun, 75 F.3d at 1296 (using knew or should have known standard where United States Postal Service employee sued the United States Postal Service for hostile environment sexual harassment caused mainly by her supervisors); Burns v. McGregor Elec. Indus., 955 F.2d at 564 (using knew or should have known standard where plant employee sued employer for hostile environment sexual harassment caused by the president/owner of the company). 13 Finally, we note the case of Kinman v. Omaha Public School District, 94 F.3d at 469. In Kinman, we were asked to determine the appropriate standard for a school district's imputed liability under Title IX for a teacher's hostile environment sexual harassment of a student. Id. at 467. Borrowing what we believed to be the appropriate institutional liability standards from Title VII cases dealing with hostile environment sexual harassment, we used the knew or should have known language. 6 We stated: 14 The Supreme Court in Meritor Savings declined to set out a generally applicable standard of liability for employers under Title VII. Instead, the Court suggested that common law agency principles should guide courts in determining employer liability on a case-by-case basis. For example, when a supervisor uses the power delegated specifically to him by his employer to discriminate on the basis of sex, that employee's actions should be imputed to the employer. On the other hand, in a hostile environment sexual harassment case, the usual basis for a finding of agency will often disappear. In such cases, the employer should not be held liable unless the employer itself has engaged in some degree of culpable behavior. For example, the employer could be held liable if it knew or should have known of the harassment and failed to take appropriate remedial action. 15 Id. at 469 (citations and quotations omitted) (emphasis added). 7 16 Therefore, we find that the district court abused its discretion in not instructing the jury on the knew or should have known employer liability standard. Consequently, we reverse and remand for a new trial on this issue. On retrial, the jury may well reach the same verdict, but must do so after being instructed on the appropriate liability standards.