Opinion ID: 613272
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: Whether Helm Unreasonably Failed to Take Advantage of Preventive or Corrective Opportunities or to Avoid Harm Otherwise

Text: An employer may satisfy the second element of the Faragher/Ellerth defense by showing that the victimized employee unreasonably delayed in reporting incidents of sexual harassment. See Pinkerton, 563 F.3d at 1063 (holding that an unexplained delay of two or two and a half months was unreasonable). Here, the district court determined that Helm acted unreasonably by waiting until the middle of 2007 to report Judge Stewart's sexual harassment, which had been ongoing for several years. On appeal, Helm's offers only one excuse for the delay: her alleged lack of knowledge of the State's sexual harassment policy. But as we explained above, because Helm signed a form acknowledging that she had read and understood the policies contained in the Handbook, she had at least constructive knowledge of the sexual harassment policy. See Shaw, 180 F.3d at 811. Therefore, her ignorance argument is unavailing, and we have no basis on which to disturb the district court's conclusion that the State carried its burden on the second prong of the Faragher/Ellerth defense. Because the State has shown that no genuine issues of material fact exist regarding the reasonableness of its preventive and corrective measures and the unreasonableness of Helm's mitigation efforts, the district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the State on Helm's sexual harassment claim.