Opinion ID: 172046
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Second Element of the Ellerth / Faragher Affirmative Defense

Text: Having found that CDOT did carry its burden with regard to the first element of the affirmative defense, we must turn to the question of whether Ms. Pinkerton unreasonably failed to avail herself of the preventive or corrective opportunities afforded her. Following Ellerth and Faragher, the plaintiff who alleges no tangible employment action has the duty to mitigate harm, but the defendant bears the burden to allege and prove that the plaintiff failed in that regard. Suders, 542 U.S. at 152, 124 S.Ct. 2342. CDOT argues that Ms. Pinkerton's failure to report the incidents for two months was unreasonable because she acknowledged having read CDOT's harassment policy and yet never availed herself of the numerous opportunities to report the incidents at her many meetings with Ms. Miller, Ms. Harding, or Mr. Gabel. We believe that CDOT carried its burden, given that CDOT has shown a reporting delay of approximately two or two and a half months (the harassment began in December but Ms. Pinkerton made no complaint until February 19, 2003) for which Ms. Pinkerton never offered any reason in her briefs on appeal. The only explanation that finds any support in the record is the one suggested by Mr. Trujillo's report, namely, Ms. Pinkerton's expressed fear that Mr. Martinez would retaliate against her. However, we note that many of our sister circuits have stated that a generalized fear of retaliation simply is not sufficient to explain a long delay in reporting sexual harassment. See Thornton v. Fed. Express Corp., 530 F.3d 451, 457 (6th Cir.2008) (two month delay); Williams v. Missouri Dep't of Mental Health, 407 F.3d 972, 976 (8th Cir.2005) (four month delay); Walton v. Johnson & Johnson Svcs., Inc., 347 F.3d 1272, 1277, 1290-91 (11th Cir.2003) (approximately two and a half month delay); Casiano v. AT & T Corp., 213 F.3d 278, 280-81, 287 (5th Cir.2000) (approximately four month delay); see also Barrett v. Applied Radiant Energy Corp., 240 F.3d 262, 268 (4th Cir.2001) (discussing why the generalized fear of retaliation is insufficient); Shaw v. AutoZone, Inc., 180 F.3d 806, 813 (7th Cir.1999) (same). The rationale behind Title VII compels us to agree. The primary objective of Title VII is not to provide redress but to avoid harm. Faragher, 524 U.S. at 806, 118 S.Ct. 2275. To promote this objective of avoiding harm, Title VII in general, and the Ellerth/ Faragher defense in particular, is premised on a cooperative framework wherein the employee reports sexual harassment and the employer remedies the improper conduct. [T]he law against sexual harassment is not self-enforcing and an employer cannot be expected to correct harassment unless the employee makes a concerted effort to inform the employer that a problem exists. Shaw, 180 F.3d at 813 (internal quotation marks omitted). It is undeniable that raising problems regarding sexual harassment can be uncomfortable for the employee, but if we were to allow an employee's subjective, ungrounded fears of unpleasantness or retaliation to alleviate an employee's reporting requirement, we would completely undermine Title VII's basic policy `of encouraging forethought by employers and saving action by objecting employees.' Barrett, 240 F.3d at 268 (quoting Faragher, 524 U.S. at 807, 118 S.Ct. 2275; Ellerth, 524 U.S. at 764, 118 S.Ct. 2257). This case provides a good example of why we ought to encourage saving action by employees, given that once Ms. Pinkerton did complain, the harassment stopped. Had CDOT been notified earlier, there is a good chance that Title VII's primary goal of preventing harm would have been served. In this case, the lapse of time was not vitiated by the fact that the events giving rise to the complaint were relatively minor. If that were the situation presented here, then a two or two and a half month delay might be reasonable, because an employee should not necessarily be expected to complain to management immediately after the first or second incident of relatively minor harassment. We will not require plaintiffs to report individual incidents that are revealed to be harassment only in the context of additional, later incidents, and that only in the aggregate come to constitute a pervasively hostile environment. However, far from involving minor incidents, this case involves inappropriate comments that were perceived by Ms. Pinkerton to be so serious that she felt physically ill upon the first instance. What is more, because it is undisputed that Ms. Pinkerton had received the harassment training and knew that the incidents should have been reported, we find no adequate excuse for her delay there. Nor is Ms. Pinkerton's delay explained by the fact that she felt she could deal with the situation and compel Mr. Martinez to stop his inappropriate comments without having to appeal to higher authorities; the record on appeal simply does not support such an argument. Accordingly, we must conclude that CDOT has shown that Ms. Pinkerton's unexplained delay in reporting the harassment was unreasonable. [6]