Opinion ID: 2162170
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Unwelcome conduct

Text: Daka's strongest argument is that the evidence at trial showed that Breiner welcomed comments about his age. Unwelcome conduct is conduct which the employee did not solicit or invite and which the employee regarded as undesirable or offensive. Howard University v. Best, supra, 484 A.2d at 978. It is true, as Daka says, that much of the evidence on this issue was controverted. The record reveals that Breiner sometimes referred to himself in relatively mild agerelated terms such as old man or old school, but it is less clear who initiated these remarks. Breiner and Neff both testified that Sakell uttered disparaging remarks first; [20] Sakell and Leyseth testified to the contrary. What is obvious, however, is that even if Breiner did invite innocuous epithets such as old man or old school, the subsequent ridicule he received was much more egregious and offensive. It is also evident that Breiner sought to discourage this behavior by making it well known, especially to Mr. Sakell, that he found these insults inappropriate. On three separate occasions Breiner approached Sakell and told him his comments were against the law or illegal. But Sakell was undeterred by these complaints and, if anything, became more abusive toward Breiner. Not only did he insult Breiner in front of, and directly to, Breiner's subordinates, but he also condoned Reeves' improper conduct. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Breiner, as we must, we conclude that there was sufficient evidence that the age-related comments were unwelcome, notwithstanding Daka's evidence to the contrary. On this point there was clearly an issue for the jury to resolve.