Opinion ID: 1201357
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Verbal Harassment

Text: Ms. Atanus contends that her Title VII rights were violated when Brown and Henderson verbally harassed her during the February 13, 2003 meeting. Ms. Atanus claims that Brown badgered her in a loud, unprofessional tone and that she perceived Brown's comments as discriminatory and harassing. Appellant's Br. at 19. An employee may bring a Title VII discrimination claim alleging that the employer is responsible for a hostile work environment. The employee must demonstrate that: (1) he was subject to unwelcome harassment; (2) the harassment was based on a protected characteristic; (3) the harassment was severe and pervasive so as to alter the conditions of the employee's environment and create a hostile or abusive working environment; and (4) there is a basis for employer liability. Mason v. So. Illinois Univ. at Carbondale, 233 F.3d 1036, 1043 (7th Cir. 2000). Whether an employer's conduct creates a hostile work environment is not subject to a mathematically precise test and can be determined only by looking at all the circumstances. Harris v. Forklift Sys., Inc., 510 U.S. 17, 22-23, 114 S.Ct. 367, 126 L.Ed.2d 295 (1993). Relevant circumstances include the frequency and severity of the conduct; whether it was threatening and/or humiliating or merely an offensive utterance; and whether the harassment unreasonably interfered with her work. McPherson v. City of Waukegan, 379 F.3d 430, 438 (7th Cir.2004). Ms. Atanus has not provided any specifics as to the content of Henderson's and Brown's statements during the meeting or whether their remarks referenced her race, color, national origin, gender, religion or age. She also does not establish that their conduct affected her work performance. Under our case law, being addressed in a loud, unprofessional tone during one meeting does not satisfy the requirement that the offensive conduct be severe and pervasive. Moser v. Indiana Dep't of Corr., 406 F.3d 895, 903 (7th Cir. 2005); Saxton v. Am. Tel. & Tel. Co., 10 F.3d 526, 533, 537 (7th Cir.1993) (noting that relatively isolated instances of non-severe misconduct will not support a hostile environment claim and holding that a supervisor's conduct, though inappropriate and unprofessional, was not so serious or pervasive that it created a hostile work environment within the meaning of Title VII); see also Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775, 788, 118 S.Ct. 2275, 141 L.Ed.2d 662 (1998) (remarking that Title VII is not a code of general civility). [8]