Opinion ID: 787947
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Severity and Pervasiveness of the Challenged Conduct

Text: 50 In reviewing the totality of the evidence adduced by Petrosino in support of her hostile work environment claim, we are mindful that Title VII does not establish a general civility code for the American workplace. Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Servs., Inc., 523 U.S. at 81, 118 S.Ct. 998. Simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents of offensive conduct (unless extremely serious) will not support a claim of discriminatory harassment. See id.; Holtz v. Rockefeller & Co., 258 F.3d 62, 75 (2d Cir.2001). To defeat Bell Atlantic's motion for summary judgment, Petrosino must adduce evidence sufficient to permit a reasonable jury to conclude that her workplace was permeated with `discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult,' that [was] `sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of [her] employment.' Harris v. Forklift Sys., Inc., 510 U.S. at 21, 114 S.Ct. 367 (quoting Meritor Sav. Bank, FSB v. Vinson, 477 U.S. at 65, 67, 106 S.Ct. 2399); accord Cruz v. Coach Stores, Inc., 202 F.3d 560, 570 (2d Cir.2000). 51 As we have already observed, a reasonable jury could conclude that the persistent sexually offensive remarks at the Edgewater Garage and the graffiti at outdoor work sites were particularly insulting to women because these actions cast women in a demeaning role: as objects of sex-based ridicule and subjects for sexual exploitation. It is within this context that the remaining evidence of sexual harassment must be considered. In this light, Petrosino's sexual assault by a drunken co-worker within a few months of joining the I & R department might well be viewed by a reasonable jury not simply as an isolated incident but as a tangible extension of the pervasive demeaning talk to Petrosino personally. The assault communicated to Petrosino that she was perceived, at least by one co-worker, not as a professional colleague, but as one more woman available for sexual exploitation. The fact that for some time thereafter Petrosino's male co-workers treated the assault as a subject for office jokes and graffiti only reinforced this perception. 13 Similarly, the men's sarcastic apologies when Petrosino attempted to limit their sexually offensive exchanges supports an inference that they were deliberately attempting to provoke [her] reaction as a woman. Ocheltree v. Scollon Prods., Inc., 335 F.3d at 332. Further, the link the men — including supervisors — routinely drew between their perceptions of Petrosino's professional defects and her anatomy, especially their vulgar references to her breasts and menstrual cycle, likewise communicated that her gender would always stand as a bar to full acceptance within the workplace. Indeed, Petrosino's work concerns were routinely dismissed in gender-based terms: she, like all women, was simply too thin-skinned and sensitive to work successfully in I & R. 52 We thus conclude that Bell Atlantic cannot demonstrate from the totality of this evidence that, as a matter of law, no reasonable jury could conclude that the gender-hostile atmosphere at the Edgewater Garage was insufficiently severe and pervasive to support Petrosino's claim of harassment and, therefore, discrimination, based on sex. To the extent the district court concluded otherwise, we reverse. 53