Opinion ID: 848648
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: individual liability under the civil rights act

Text: This issue involves the proper interpretation of the CRA. The primary goal of statutory interpretation is to give effect to the intent of the Legislature. In re MCI Telecom Complaint, 460 Mich. 396, 411, 596 N.W.2d 164 (1999). The first step is to review the language of the statute. If the statutory language is unambiguous, the Legislature is presumed to have intended the meaning expressed in the statute and judicial construction is not permissible. MCL 37.2201(a) states the following: `Employer' means a person who has 1 or more employees, and includes an agent of that person. According to the statute, that person refers to the employer. [1] Simply, the statute means that an employer is a person who has one or more employees and this includes an agent of the employer. This means that an employer still falls within the purview of the statute even if its employees are mere agents, such as family members who are helping with the business. To determine employer liability, agents are considered employees. Thus, an employer cannot escape liability because the alleged sexual harasser is not officially an employee, but is instead, for example, a family member who is helping out with the business. If the sexual harasser is an employee or agent of the employer, the employer is liable if it had notice and failed to act reasonably. See Radtke v. Everett, 442 Mich. 368, 396, 501 N.W.2d 155 (1993). According to the unambiguous language selected by the Legislature, the plain text of the statute provides for employer liability for the acts of its employees and agents, but it does not provide for individual liability. Because policy considerations cannot be taken into account in this case, I offer no position on whether it would be best for plaintiffs in sexual harassment cases to also hold an alleged sexual harasser individually liable under the CRA. That decision is solely for the Legislature to determine.