Opinion ID: 44149
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sexual-Harassment Claim

Text: To establish a hostile-environment sexual-harassment claim, an employee must show: (1) that [] she belongs to a protected group; (2) that the employee has been subject to unwelcome sexual harassment, such as sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other conduct of a sexual nature; (3) that the harassment must have been based on the sex of the employee; (4) that the harassment was sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the terms and conditions of employment and create a discriminatorily abusive working environment; and (5) a basis for holding the employer liable. 16 The district court concluded that Hall’s and Olson’s understanding that complaints under the Open Door Program could be made to any manager did not create a genuine issue of material fact because the July 2002 written policy disseminated to the employees required that reports be made to the store manager or assistant store manager. Thus, the district court found that Olson’s complaints to Hall were informal and did not give Lowe’s notice of Senkle’s behavior because Hall was not a person designated to receive complaints under the policy. 13 Mendoza v. Borden, Inc., 195 F.3d 1238, 1245 (11th Cir. 1999) (en banc) (emphasis added). “Establishing that harassing conduct was sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter an employee’s terms or conditions of employment includes a subjective and an objective component.” Id. at 1246. As to the subjective component, the employee must “subjectively perceive” the harassing behavior as being sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the terms or conditions of her employment. Id. As to the objective component, “[t]he [work] environment must be one that a reasonable person would find hostile or abusive [, . . . which] should be judged from the perspective of a reasonable person in plaintiff’s position considering all of the circumstances.” Id. The four factors in making this determination are: “(1) the frequency of the conduct; (2) the severity of the conduct; (3) whether the conduct is physically threatening or humiliating, or a mere offensive utterance; and (4) whether the conduct unreasonably interferes with the employee’s job performance.” Id. In addition, “courts should examine the conduct in context, not as isolated acts, and determine under the totality of the circumstances whether the harassing conduct is sufficiently severe or pervasive.” Id. We first conclude that Senkle’s conduct as a whole was sufficiently severe or pervasive as to alter the terms and conditions of Olson’s employment. For 14 example, Senkle’s conduct was sufficiently frequent. Olson testified that, over a span of 2½ months, Senkle subjected her several times a week to offensive sexual comments, and touched her at least three times (a kissing and two rubbing incidents). There is some evidence that Senkle’s sexual comments increased and eventually were made every shift. The conduct was also sufficiently severe. Senkle’s frequent comments were explicitly sexual in nature and became increasingly more vulgar. Senkle’s conduct also was physically threatening and humiliating. Senkle rubbed his entire body (not merely a hand or hip) against Olson on two occasions. The rubbing was forcible and not mere brushes. Olson even sustained injuries from the kissing incident. Olson repeatedly tried to avoid Senkle at work because of his continuing sexual comments. The kissing incident rendered Olson physically unable to work at the same level as before the incident, and she ended up on light duty. Thus, Olson has presented sufficient evidence that the conduct also interfered with her job. See Coates v. Sundor Brands, Inc., 164 F.3d 1361, 1366 (11th Cir. 1999). Olson’s case is similar to Johnson v. Booker T. Washington Broadcasting Service, Inc., where this Court concluded that the conduct was sufficiently severe or pervasive to constitute sexual harassment. 234 F.3d 501, 509 (11th Cir. 2000). The Johnson Court determined that the defendant’s conduct: 15 was not infrequent (Johnson points to roughly fifteen separate instances of harassment over the course of four months); the conduct was severe (Donnell’s behavior included giving Johnson unwanted massages, standing so close to Johnson that his body parts touched her from behind, and pulling his pants tight to reveal the imprint of his private parts); the conduct was physically threatening and humiliating (same); and the conduct interfered with Johnson’s job performance (she could not get along with her on-the-air co-host). This set of facts differs from cases like Mendoza and Gupta v. Florida Bd. of Regents, where there were fewer instances of less objectionable conduct over longer periods of time. Johnson, 234 F.3d at 509 (internal citations omitted). Like Johnson, this case involves frequent instances of sexual harassment over a short period of time, and unwanted physical touching. Indeed, the sexual comments grew in frequency to every shift; there were three incidents of physical contact; and Olson was actually physically injured by Senkle’s behavior. See Hulsey v. Pride Restaurants, LLC., 367 F.3d 1238, 1248 (11th Cir. 2004) (“Garrison’s conduct was frequent, occurring at least 18 times during the approximately 2 to 2-1/2 weeks between his initial attempt to get Hulsey to date him and her termination on August 16, 2001.”). Thus, Olson’s evidence is sufficient to establish a hostile-environment sexual-harassment claim.