Opinion ID: 75566
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Liability for Sexual Assault

Text: In order to prevail on a civil rights action under § 1983, a plaintiff must show that he or she was deprived of a federal right by a person acting under color of state law. Almand v. DeKalb County, Georgia, 103 F.3d 1510, 1513 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 966, 118 S. Ct. 411 (1997). A person acts under color of state law when he acts with authority possessed by virtue of his employment with the state. Id. “The dispositive issue is whether the official was acting pursuant to the power he/ she possessed by state authority or acting only as a private individual.” Edwards v. Wallace Community College, 49 F.3d 1517, 1523 (11th Cir. 1995). It is firmly established that a defendant in a § 1983 suit acts under color of law when he abuses the position given to him by the State. United States v. Classic, 313 U.S. 299, 326, 61 S. Ct. 1031, 1043, 85 L.Ed.1368 (1941). The City maintains that as a matter of law, it cannot be liable for any sexual assault committed by Neal against Griffin because Neal was not acting under color of state law at the time of the assault. This Court has previously recognized that under 14 certain circumstances, a rape of a person by a state actor or official could violate the Constitution and serve as the basis for a suit under § 1983. Almand, 103 F.3d at 1513 (citing Parker v. Williams, 862 F.2d 1471 (11th Cir. 1989)(involving rape by uniformed deputy of woman in his custody); Dang Vang v. Vang Xiong X. Toyed, 944 F.2d 476, 479-80 (9th Cir. 1991) (upholding jury determination that defendant acted under color of law when he raped women looking for employment while meeting with them under pretext of providing services pursuant to his job)). Whether a government employee is acting under color of law is not always an easy call, and the color of law analysis inevitably requires that we engage in line drawing. Almand, 103 F.3d at 1515. It is only through a process of “sifting facts and weighing circumstances” that we arrive at a correct determination. McDade v. West, 223 F.3d 1135, 1139 (9th Cir. 2000). Based on the totality of facts and circumstances of this case and construing all of the evidence in a light most favorable to Griffin, we believe that there is evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that Neal’s actions in harassing and ultimately raping Griffin occurred while he was acting under color of law. The rape occurred following a Rotary Club meeting attended by Neal, Griffin, the Mayor, City Commissioners, and the City Department heads. That the Rotary Club meeting was not technically an official City function does not trouble us insofar as the color of law 15 analysis goes. There was testimony by Griffin and others that City employees were expected to attend Rotary Club meetings. In fact, Neal testified that after he failed to attend one Rotary Club meeting, the Mayor made him “sternly aware” of the Club’s significance, and he never again missed a meeting. Moreover, there was testimony that Griffin was at the event as a City employee. Neal himself testified that he attended the function as City Manager, that he was there “preserving his job” and “taking care of business,” and that he stayed close to the Mayor or Commissioners in case they needed anything. Neal specifically asked Griffin and other City employees to attend the meetings, the Mayor of the City was the founder of the Rotary Club chapter, and the City paid for employees, including Griffin, to join. In short, participation in the Rotary Club was a command performance for City employees. After learning that Griffin had arranged for the City’s police chief to take her home following the Rotary event due to car troubles, the evidence supports the conclusion that Neal intervened4 and invoked his authority as City Manager to create the opportunity to be alone with Griffin, to take her home, and then to rape her. In front of various City officials, including the Mayor, several Commissioners, and the Assistant City Manager, Neal told Griffin that he would take her home and that she 4 In Neal’s words, he offered his help, “as the manager would.” 16 should advise the police chief that he, the City Manager, would take her.5 In addition, Neal himself also instructed the police chief that he would take her home and that the situation was all taken care of.6 On the way to Griffin’s home, Neal used his authority to permit Griffin to park her car inside the City’s police department and told her that he would have the City fix it. During the ride from the police station to her apartment, Neal and Griffin discussed her work for the City, and Neal tried to dissuade her from leaving her job. Upon their arrival at her apartment and after insisting on helping her with her equipment, Neal came up behind Griffin while she was in the kitchen and said, “Angie, you know that I have been waiting a long time for this.” When she refused his sexual advances, Neal, as he had done numerous times throughout the course of his harassment of her, reminded her of his authority by saying “I can’t believe you are telling me no after everything that I have done for you.” Neal then proceeded to rape her. 5 Griffin testified that she did not protest or refuse because Neal was still her boss and she did not want to make a scene or be negative in front of all of the City officials because she needed to get good references from them. 6 Neal also told another Rotary Club member who offered Griffin help that he should not be concerned and that everything was “taken care of” and “arrangements had been made. ” The Rotarian testified that Griffin looked upset. 17 It appears that Neal continued to invoke his authority over Griffin to harass her and humiliate her even after the sexual assault. When Griffin reported to work the day after Neal assaulted her, Neal summoned her to his office, where he asked her for a hug and told other workers about the great time he had the previous night and that “I want to do it again like I did last night, I want to do it all over again.” Neal also used his authority to have the City repair Griffin’s car. After the rape, he instructed a City employee to repair the car and told him not to ask any questions or answer any questions about the car repair.7 Although we are persuaded that the foregoing facts demonstrate that Neal utilized his authority as City Manager to facilitate the assault on Griffin and that he was therefore acting under color of law at the time of the assault, we do not believe that under the facts of this case that we are required to view the sexual assault in isolation or ignore Neal’s persistent abuse of authority leading up to the assault in making our color of law determination. Rather, we believe that the entire pattern of abuse and harassment against Griffin that eventually culminated in her rape is relevant to our color of law analysis. In other words, Neal’s official interactions with Griffin as her boss during and after work hours, his continual sexual harassment of her during 7 Upon learning that the car was Griffin’s, the water department supervisor allegedly told another City employee that “[Neal] must have gotten to her. We have Angie’s car in the back.” 18 those interactions, and the ultimate sexual assault constitute an indivisible, ongoing series of events. Doe v. Taylor Independent School District, 15 F.3d 443, 461 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 815, 115 S. Ct. 70 (1994)(Higginbotham, J., concurring)(teacher’s official interactions with student and his sexual activity with her constituted an “indivisible, ongoing relationship” even though a significant amount of the sexual misconduct occurred after hours and off school grounds). The pattern of Neal’s abuse of his authority began the first day of his employment with the City and did not end until after he sexually assaulted Griffin and she left her job at the City for good. From day one, he utilized his authority as City Manager to harass and intimidate her by repeatedly insisting she owed him something for “all of the things” that he did for her, including giving her a pay raise for which she was apparently not entitled, threatening her with her job if she did not do certain things for him like cook, lose weight, and tell him how good he looked, demanding that she work in his office (although he apparently gave her no work), touching her inappropriately, continually requesting hugs, dates, and favors despite her refusal to go out with him, and asking her intimate questions. It is within this context of Neal’s continual exploitation of and leverage of his authority over Griffin that we find a sufficient nexus between his duties and obligations as City Manager and Griffin’s boss 19 and the abuse of that authority to facilitate his harassment and ultimate sexual assault of her.8 Although we are unaware of any cases directly on point, we believe our conclusion that Neal was acting under color of law is supported by several cases where state employees were held to be acting under color of law when they utilized their authority to create the opportunity for or to facilitate a sexual assault. For example, in Doe v. Taylor, the Fifth Circuit found that there was a sufficient nexus between a teacher’s duties and his sexual relationship with a student for color of law purposes where the sexual misconduct began on school grounds and where the defendant “took full advantage of his position as [plaintiff’s] teacher” to create opportunities for sexual contact, exempt her from doing schoolwork, to give her good grades, and to intervene on her behalf to get her a better grade in another class. Doe, 15 F.3d at 452, n.4. Like the teacher in Doe, Neal’s improper sexual conduct started while he and Griffin were on the job at the workplace, he used his authority to sexually harass her during and after work hours, held her job and job benefits over her 8 That Griffin had already resigned from her position at the City at the time of the assault does not change our conclusion that Neal used and abused his authority to perpetrate against Griffin sexual harassment and assault. Neal was Griffin’s boss before, during, and for a time after the sexual assault. Doe, 15 F.3d at 462 (Higginbotham, J., concurring)(noting the significance in the color of law analysis that defendant was victim’s teacher before, during, and after the sexual misconduct). 20 head,9 and he ultimately used his authority as City Manager and her boss to create the opportunity to be alone with her and to rape her.10 In addition to Doe, several other cases have similarly held that a state employee acts under color or law when he utilizes his authority to create the opportunity to facilitate a rape or sexual assault. Dang Vang, 944 F.2d at 479-80 (employee of state employment agency acted under color of law when he raped women looking for employment while meeting with them under pretext of providing employment services or teaching them to drive); Rogers v. City of Little Rock, Arkansas, 152 F.3d 790 (8th Cir. 1998)(finding that police officer acted under color of law where he followed plaintiff home after a traffic stop, told her she owed him one for letting her off without a ticket, and then he raped her). In contrast to the aforementioned cases where a state employee used his authority to create the opportunity to assault a victim, the City relies on a series of cases where the performance of a state actor’s official duties merely facilitated the 9 Specifically, he repeatedly threatened that she would lose her job, he required that she work in his office although he gave her no work, and he gave her a raise to which she was not entitled. 10 Although the color of law analysis is different and considerably more restrictive than the determination whether a supervisor has invoked his authority for purposes of imposing Title VII liability, we cannot help but noting the similarities between the instant case and Huitt v. Market Street Hotel Corp., 1993 WL 245744  (D. Kan. 1993)(employer could be liable for hostile environment sexual harassment where a supervisor invoked his authority to make it more difficult for victim to get a ride home, supervisor then drove her home himself, and raped her on the way). 21 meeting of or development of a relationship between the state actor and another person; and the state actor later, on his own time and wholly independent of his official duties, commits an assault or other constitutional tort against that person. Under those circumstances, the law is clear that the state actor is not acting under color of law. Almand, 103 F.3d at 1514 (although victim became acquainted with police officer through his official duties in investigating victim’s daughter’s disappearance, defendant used sheer force, not his authority as a police officer, to bust through her front door and rape her); Roe v. Humke, 128 F.3d 1213 (8th Cir. 1997)(although police officer met the student through his role as goodwill ambassador to school, no nexus existed between his official duties and molestation of student where the defendant molested the student at his farm, while he was off-duty, in plain clothes, driving his personal car, and did not pretend to be engaged in any official activity); Becerra v. Asher, 105 F.3d 1042, 1047 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 824, 118 S. Ct. 82 (1997)(although teacher had “first befriended and shown a special interest in” the victim at school, there was no nexus between official duties as teacher and sexual assault where teacher molested student off campus five months after student withdrew from school); D.T. v. Independent School District, 894 F.2d 1176, 1186-88 (10th Cir. 1990)(teacher was not acting under color of law when he molested students during summer vacation, while under no contractual obligation to school 22 district, molestation took place at his home following a fund-raising activity for a basketball camp not affiliated with the school; and the events were the product of a private activity that the plaintiffs voluntarily and freely participated in as private individuals); Mooneyham v. Hawkins, 129 F.3d 1264 (6th Cir. 1997)(unpublished decision holding that defendant police officer took advantage of an obviously intoxicated plaintiff and his ten-month friendship with her to facilitate the sexual assault). Although it is clear that in each of these cases, the state actor became acquainted with or developed a relationship with a victim pursuant to his official duties, the assault or constitutional injury caused by each defendant was committed completely away from and outside the ambit of his official duties or obligations. Roe, 128 F.3d at 1217-18 (rejecting argument that sexual abuse would not have occurred if teacher had not won student’s trust and affection through role as teacher; constitutional violations do not “extend to the development of trust and affection”). In none of these cases was the court faced with the situation confronted by this Court, where the defendant engaged in a pattern of unconstitutional behavior against a particular victim while in the course of his official duties at the workplace, and such unconstitutional activity continued, and in fact, escalated outside the workplace. Neal’s official duties did not simply provide him the opportunity to become 23 acquainted with Griffin or to develop a relationship of trust with her that he later used to facilitate assault outside the workplace.11 Rather, he used his authority as Griffin’s boss on a daily basis to harass and humiliate her during and after work hours both at the workplace and City-related functions. This pattern of harassment and the assertion of control over Griffin both at the workplace and beyond is what differentiates this case from those where a police officer or teacher befriends or meets a victim while acting in the course of his official duties, but then later assaults them off-duty, off premises while acting in a private or personal capacity.12
The City next argues that even if Neal’s assault upon Griffin was taken under color of state law, it cannot be liable because Neal’s actions were not taken pursuant to a municipal custom or policy. The law is clear that a municipality cannot be held liable for the actions of its employees under § 1983 based on a theory of respondeat 11 To the contrary, Neal and Griffin’s personal relationship did not extend beyond that of supervisor to supervised and harasser to harassed. 12 Our holding today that Neal was acting under color of law when he raped Griffin comports with the well established rule of law that not every tort committed by a state actor rises to the level of a constitutional violation. It is the egregious and escalating nature of the abuse of Neal’s official authority in this case to perpetrate both harassment and ultimately rape against Griffin that tips the color of law analysis in favor of concluding he was acting under color of law. Although subtle, we again reiterate the critical distinction in the color of law analysis between those cases where a state actor directly uses his official authority to create the opportunity to sexually assault a victim and those cases where a state actor merely uses his authority to develop or facilitate a relationship of trust with a victim, even though that relationship in some attenuated sense serves as a but for cause of a later sexual assault. 24 superior. Monell v. Dept. of Social Services of the City of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 663, 98 S. Ct. 2018, 2022, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). Rather, only deprivations undertaken pursuant to governmental ‘custom’ or ‘policy’ may lead to the imposition of governmental liability. Floyd v. Waiters, 133 F.3d 786, 793 (11th Cir. 1998). Clearly, the City did not have a formal policy condoning or endorsing sexual harassment or sexual assault by City employees. Nevertheless, § 1983 liability may be imposed on a municipality based on “governmental ‘custom’ even though such a custom has not received formal approval through the body’s official decisionmaking channels.” Id. at 795. This Court set out the standard for imposing such liability in Brown, stating that: [t]o prove § 1983 liability against a municipality based on custom, a plaintiff must establish a widespread practice that, “although not authorized by written law or express municipal policy, is so permanent and well settled as to constitute a ‘custom or usage’ with the force of law.” Brown, 923 F.2d at 1481 (citations omitted). In addition, we have also held that a municipality’s failure to correct the constitutionally offensive actions of its employees can rise to the level of a custom or policy “if the municipality tacitly authorizes these actions or displays deliberate indifference” towards the misconduct. Brooks v. Scheib, 813 F.2d 1191, 1193 (11th Cir. 1987). 25 After reviewing the record in full and taking all inferences in favor of Griffin, the evidence establishes without any question that sexual harassment was the ongoing, accepted practice at the City and that the City Commission, Mayor, and other high ranking City officials knew of, ignored, and tolerated the harassment. As such, we are persuaded that the jury’s conclusion that sexual harassment was so persistent and widespread as to amount to a unconstitutional policy or custom is amply supported by the evidence. The workplace was permeated with vulgar, demeaning, and sexually suggestive conversations about women, improper demands for sexual favors and dates, unwelcome sexual advances, as well as unfair treatment for those women unwilling to reciprocate such conduct and who were not considered “team players.” Bohen v. City of East Chicago, Indiana, 799 F.2d 1180, 1187-89 (7th Cir. 1986)(finding policy or custom of sexual harassment at municipal fire department where female employees subjected to unwelcome touching, conversations at the workplace were filled with “lurid sexual descriptions,” the department had no sexual harassment policy, management personnel “knew the general picture if not the details” of the pattern of sexual harassment, and complaints were addressed superficially or not at all). We detail much of the testimony presented to the jury to make clear the egregious and commonplace nature of the harassment at the City, as well as to demonstrate that the 26 final policymakers, including the City Commissioners and the Mayor were aware of the problem and were completely indifferent to it. At trial, several witnesses testified about repeated instances during which Neal and other male employees engaged in vulgar, sexually suggestive, and demeaning conversations describing their sexual escapades and desires. Neal was often overheard discussing his sex life in front of various department heads and other City employees, including women, detailing how great he was in bed and how many times he had sex the night before. In addition, Neal and other male employees would frequently compare female staff members’ breasts, legs, and bodies and describe what they would do to the women sexually if they had them.13 For example, Neal would say “If I had [Jane Doe], I could really rock her world.” On one occasion, Neal told the City Attorney that he wanted to see a female employee from the finance department naked. On another occasion during a business meeting at a local hotel with several City employees and representatives from a firm looking to do business with the City, Neal told everyone how he had sex in all of the rooms with mirrors at the hotel. Following a City Commission meeting, Neal talked about going out “poking all night,” and high-fived the male assistant city manager who was present. 13 According to Mayor Ingram, this is just how men talk among themselves. 27 On another occasion, Neal described to a female employee an incident in which he had sex in the back of a patrol car. The City Attorney, Griffin, and numerous other female employees also testified that Neal frequently asked them for dates or dinner despite their rejections. In addition, he asked them to cook for him, told them that they owed him something, and questioned them about their sex lives. On at least two occasions, a group of female City employees complained to the City Attorney that they were having problems with Neal making inappropriate sexual comments to them, touching them, asking for sexual favors and punishing those who refused, giving people raises when they did not deserve them, and showing favoritism. The City Attorney also received complaints from a City Clerk to the effect that Neal was asking her out, questioning her about who her lover was, and that he was giving her a hard time because she was not reciprocating his advances. Several employees, including a Commissioner, testified that in reference to Griffin, they knew that Neal had requested that the “big breasted” or “big tit girl” work in his office. Neal asked the City Attorney to go to a nude bar with him and told her that he would like to see her drunk. Natacha Yacinthe, an administrative assistant, testified that Neal asked her details about her sex life, inquired whether she had slept with another City employee, and indicated to her that he wanted her to dress more 28 provocatively. Ana Otero, the acting director of human resources, testified that on one occasion, Neal came up so close behind her while she was standing at a copy machine that she could feel his breath on her neck. Neal told Otero that he liked short, Puerto Rican women like herself, and according to Otero, came up and kissed her once in the elevator though she had done nothing to encourage it. Otero also described an incident where Neal summoned her to his office and asked her for an “intimate kiss.” Griffin, Irby, Ellis, and others testified that Neal made threats regarding their job or salary when they did not reciprocate his advances. Irby testified that Neal told her she’d be removed from her job because she was not “committed to him” and did not ask him out for dinner. Those who did not at least tolerate his advances were not considered team players. One woman who interviewed with Neal for a job at the City testified that Neal commented how nice her legs were, called her at home, asked for dates, talked about kinky sex, gave her a City credit card number and told her to get them a hotel room. She refused his advances and did not get the job. Moreover, there is no question that the Mayor and City Commissioners knew about Neal’s sexual harassment and misconduct. Commissioner Barrett testified that it was commonly known throughout the City that Neal had problems with sexual harassment and dealing with women both before he became City Manager and 29 afterwards. First, at or around the time Neal was being considered for the permanent City Manager position, various faxes, articles, and cartoons addressed to the Mayor and City Commission were circulated throughout the City government warning that Neal had a problem with sexual harassment. Some of the articles apparently pertained to an incident involving sexual harassment at Neal’s previous job. Another fax contained a list of sexual harassment charges against Neal. Other faxes included cartoons depicting a man harassing or assaulting a woman with a warning that “You are going to get this if you hire this guy.” A City resident also tried to present these articles and faxes raising concerns about Neal’s sexual harassment problems at a City Commission meeting where Neal’s hiring was discussed. The resident was ignored. There was also testimony that Neal was known as a womanizer.14 Commissioner Barrett testified about a tape recording of a City Commission meeting with Mayor Ingram, the City Commissioners, and the City Attorney where the group erupted in laughter as Neal was repeatedly introduced as Earnie P. Neal. 14 There was testimony that it was known around the City that Neal had a sexual interest in Griffin. Griffin testified that on a least two occasions, Neal made reference to taking her out in the presence of other City officials. She described one incident where Neal summoned her, and in the presence of the Vice-Mayor, told her that he was glad she was going to a City function that night so that they could dance “close together.” She testified that both Neal and the ViceMayor laughed at the comment and sent her back to her desk. In addition, when Neal told Griffin that he, not the police chief, would take her home following the Rotary Club function, Neal commented in the presence of several Commissioners and the Mayor that he “could take her out now.” The City officials laughed at Neal’s remark according to Griffin even though there was testimony that Griffin looked upset. 30 Commissioner Barrett explained that everyone laughed at the emphasis placed on Neal’s middle initial because he was known as Earnie “Penis” Neal.15 At least two employees, including the City Attorney, complained to Commissioner Barrett about Neal’s sexual harassment. In addition to the complaints to Commissioner Barrett, another female employee testified that she complained about Neal’s behavior to two other Commissioners, the City Attorney, and the Mayor. Although Commissioner Barrett testified that he believed the City had a sexual harassment problem, no remedial action was ever taken. Barrett maintained that he never pursued removing Neal because he believed that the other Commissioners and the Mayor endorsed everything Neal did and would not vote to remove him no matter what. The most egregious example, however, of the City’s notice of sexual harassment and its complete indifference to the problem is evidenced by the testimony regarding the Mayor’s response to complaints that Neal was sexually harassing several female employees. Patricia Ellis, the City Attorney, testified that she went to see Mayor Ingram specifically to advise him of the various sexual harassment and misconduct complaints she had received from female employees in regard to Neal. 15 The director of human resources testified that she had heard talk around the City about an orgy that had allegedly taken place involving several City employees, including Neal. 31 After advising the Mayor of the complaints, Ellis testified that the Mayor responded as follows: Heck, if I believe the rumors that I hear about Earnie Neal and Timothy Holmes, then they have a heck of a libido, and I want some of what they are taking.16 Other than his statement regarding his desire to take some of what Neal and Holmes were taking, the Mayor had no other response to the harassment complaints and no remedial action was taken. The Mayor’s statement is important to our decision today for several reasons. First and foremost, it constitutes the most egregious statement of gross indifference to sexual harassment of which this Court can conceive. For the mayor of a city to express an interest in getting in on the action when confronted with complaints of sexual misconduct by the city’s chief executive officer is nothing short of reprehensible. Second, the Mayor’s statement suggests that he was aware of and had prior notice of sexual harassment and/or sexual misconduct involving not only Neal, but the Vice-Mayor as well. The jury was certainly entitled to infer from the Mayor’s response that he had prior notice. This inference coupled with the fact that he took absolutely no remedial action and expressed an interest in “taking some of what [Neal 16 Timothy Holmes was the City’s Vice-Mayor and a member of the City Commission. 32 and the other Commissioner] are taking” reasonably supports the conclusion that sexual harassment was tolerated and condoned at the City, if not encouraged. In contending that it had no notice of the harassment, the City makes much of the fact that no prior lawsuits were filed against Neal for sexual harassment. Nevertheless, we do not believe that the absence of prior lawsuits or EEOC complaints is determinative on the issue whether the City is on notice of blatantly unconstitutional conduct by its high-ranking officials. Nor are we overly concerned with the lack of formal complaints within the City government either. The City did not have a sexual harassment policy, nor was there any specific person or entity designated to receive sexual harassment complaints.17 The lack of a sexual harassment policy or formal mechanism for complaints was particularly problematic in the instant case because Neal, the primary harasser, was the person in charge of personnel and the day-to-day functioning of the City. Neither the Mayor or Commissioners were at the City full-time, and apparently there was no one at the City on a daily basis superior to Neal. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that the City received no formal complaints against Neal. 17 Dr. Hattie Daniels, the director of human resources, knew that the City needed a sexual harassment policy. She apparently presented a draft policy to Neal, but no action was ever taken to implement it. 33 In sum, we believe that the Mayor and City Commissioners were on notice of Neal’s unconstitutional behavior and failed to take the first remedial measure or preventative step to correct the known or suspected sexual harassment problem. Depew v. City of St. Marys, Georgia, 787 F.2d 1496 (11th Cir. 1986)(city’s knowledge of prior complaints, its failure to take remedial action, and lack of inclination to remedy pattern of known constitutional violations is precisely the type of informal policy or custom that is actionable under § 1983). The City never investigated the allegations of sexual harassment, no records were kept of complaints, and no one in charge ever questioned, disciplined, or even discussed sexual harassment with Neal.18 There was no sexual harassment training or evidence that the Mayor or Commission ever even considered formulating a sexual harassment policy until after Griffin left her job with the City.19 We believe it fair to say that the City’s tolerance of gross sexual harassment, its failure to take remedial action despite actual and constructive knowledge of the problem and its complete lack of any sexual harassment policy or complaint procedure taken together clearly constitute a “moving 18 Two employees did apparently warn Neal about his behavior. Upon hearing Neal’s request that the “big tit girl” be sent to his office, Winston Mottley told Neal that “those tits are going to get you in trouble.” The City Attorney also warned Neal that his conduct could create problems for the City. 19 Furthermore, it appears that when the City finally implemented a sexual harassment policy in 1998, it was the new City Manager, not the City Commission, that enacted the policy as part of an administrative regulation. 34 force” behind the rampant sexual harassment at the City. As such, we uphold the jury’s conclusion that the City had a policy or custom of ignoring or tolerating gross sexual harassment. The more difficult question is whether when a City has such a policy it can be liable for a rape following this type of harassment. Under the facts of this case, however, we do not believe that we are required to answer this question. Upon review of the district court’s instructions to the jury and the jury verdict form itself, it appears that the jury did not make the requisite findings to support § 1983 liability for the rape against the City.20 Specifically, in response to Question 6 of the verdict form, the jury concluded that the City had a policy or custom of allowing a sexually hostile or abusive work environment. The jury, however, rendered no express finding as to whether the City had a similar custom or policy of ignoring or tolerating rape or sexual assault. Nor did the jury verdict refer to the rape incident as part of the policy or custom of sexual harassment such that § 1983 liability for the rape could be sustained based on the custom of harassment. Because the record does not establish that the jury found that the City had a custom or policy of allowing rape or that the 20 Moreover, it appears from the verdict form that the jury found the City’s maximum liability to be $500,000 in response to Question 9 on the verdict form, which asked the jury to determine what damages were caused by Neal or the City for acts other than the rape. In contrast, Question 8 on the verdict form, which required the jury to determine what damages were caused by Neal’s sexual assault of Griffin, made no reference to the City or its liability for the rape. 35 rape incident was part of the custom or pattern of sexual harassment, we cannot reasonably say that the jury found all essential aspects of the § 1983 case against the City.21 As such, the verdict and judgment against the City for the rape cannot stand.