Opinion ID: 2449756
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: co-worker harassment

Text: An employer's liability for a hostile work environment created by non-supervisory employees (co-workers) is based on a theory of negligence and not respondeat superior. To prevail on a claim of co-worker harassment, a plaintiff must assert and prove: (1) the employee was a member of a protected class; (2) the employee was subjected to unwelcomed sexual harassment; (3) the harassment occurred because of the employee's gender; (4) the harassment affected a term, condition or privilege of employment; and (5) the employer knew or should have known of the harassment and failed to respond with prompt and appropriate corrective action. Spicer v. Beaman Bottling Co., 937 S.W.2d 884, 888 (Tenn. 1996). An employer, therefore, is liable for the conduct of non-supervisory employees only as a by-product of its reaction to the employee's conduct and not as a direct result of the actual conduct. Accordingly, § 4-21-401 liability under a co-worker harassment theory is premised on the employer's reaction and not on the co-worker's harassing conduct. A non-supervisory employee who engages in discriminatory conduct does not, merely by that conduct, aid and abet the employer's failure to take remedial action. A non-supervisor neither has a role in the employer's reaction nor shares a common intent or purpose with the employer who simply fails to respond to the discriminatory conduct. Permitting suits against non-supervisors for their harassing conduct, under an aiding and abetting theory, also serves little remedial purpose. If an employer responds promptly and appropriately to the harassment, the THRA has not been violated. If the employer fails to take appropriate corrective actions, the employer is liable. Accordingly, § 4-21-401 does not redress a co-worker's harassing conduct. [4] Section 4-21-401 merely provides a remedy for the employer's failure to take corrective action in a co-worker harassment case. Individual accomplice liability under a hostile work environment theory requires conduct that is distinct from the harassment. To impose individual accomplice liability on a non-supervisory employee, a court must find: (1) that a hostile work environment existed; (2) that the employee acted affirmatively to aid, abet, incite, compel, or command an employer not to take remedial action to the hostile work environment; and (3) that the employer engaged in employment-related discrimination by failing to take adequate remedial action. Although a non-supervisor will rarely possess the ability to prevent an employer from taking remedial action, the non-supervisor should be liable for conduct which encourages or prevents an employer from taking remedial action. Plaintiff's claims against Foster are predicated on hostile work environment. There is no evidence in the record before us that Foster had any supervisory authority over the plaintiff or encouraged UPS not to take corrective action. Under the facts as certified, Foster cannot be held individually liable for aiding and abetting an employer violation of the THRA.