Opinion ID: 3013236
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the master was negligent or reckless, or

Text: (c) the conduct violated a non-delegable duty of the master, or (d) the servant purported to act or to speak on behalf of the principal and there was reliance upon apparent authority, or he was aided in accomplishing the tort by the existence of the agency relation. Restatement § 219(2) (emphasis added); see also Restatement § 219, Comment e. As in Ellerth and Faragher, Suders does not allege that the PA State Police itself intended to harass her or that there is a non-delegable duty at issue. Therefore, subsections (a) and (c) of section 219(2) are not relevant to this appeal. Section 219(2)(b) might arguably apply if Suders had alleged that the PA State Police was negligent in that it “knew or should have known about” the harassment and failed to stop it. See Ellerth, 524 U.S. at 759. Because she conceded that she resigned only two days after making her first formal complaint to SmithElliott, Suders implicitly acknowledges that the PA State Police was not aware of what had transpired at the McConnellsburg barracks, thus precluding vicarious liability under subsection (b). Finally, Suders does not allege that the PA State Police officers purported to exercise authority that they did not have, and therefore, the “apparent authority” clause of section 219(2)(d) is also inapplicable here. Thus, as in Ellerth and Faragher, vicarious liability must be premised on the second clause of section 219(2)(d), which provides for the vicarious liability of an employer for the tortious acts of an employee when the latter is “aided in accomplishing the tort by the existence of the agency relation.” This has come to be known as the “aided in the agency relation standard.” Ellerth, 524 U.S. at 759. In the context of Title VII, the Supreme Court recognized that “it makes sense to hold an employer vicariously liable for some tortious conduct of a supervisor made possible by abuse of his supervisory authority, and that the aided-by-agencyrelation principle embodied in § 219(2)(d) of the 28 Restatement provides an appropriate starting point for determining liability for the kind of harassment presented here.” Faragher, 524 U.S. at 802. While the Court found an appropriate starting point in the aided in the agency relation standard, it also recognized an inherent definitional problem: broadly speaking, most workplace harassment occurs because men and women are brought together as co-workers in close quarters. In that sense, all harassment is aided by the agency relationship put in place by employers. The Court cautioned that “[w]ere this to satisfy the aided in the agency relation standard, an employer would be subject to vicarious liability not only for all supervisor harassment, but also for all co-worker harassment, a result enforced by neither the EEOC nor any court of appeals to have considered the issue.” Ellerth, 524 U.S. at 760 (emphasis added). In that regard, it is important to note the clear limitations of the aided in the agency relation standard as a basis for vicarious liability. Specifically, the Supreme Court recognized, and we reiterate here, a clear distinction between supervisors and co-workers. This recognition derives from the simple fact that, for purposes of liability, only supervisors, because of the authority vested in them by their employers and because of the rank they possess over others, may be aided by the agency relation in the commission of actionable harassment.11 11. See Faragher, 524 U.S. at 803. The Court noted that “[r]ecognition of employer liability when discriminatory misuse of supervisory authority alters the terms and conditions of a victim’s employment is underscored by the fact that the employer has a greater opportunity to guard against misconduct by supervisors than by common workers; employers have greater opportunity and incentive to screen them, train them, and monitor their performance.” Id. In addition to the special relationship between employers and supervisors, harassment by a supervisor takes on different dimensions than harassment by a co-worker: “When a fellow employee harasses, the victim can walk away or tell the offender where to go, but it may be difficult to offer such responses to a supervisor, whose ‘power to supervise’—[which may be] to hire and fire, and to set work schedules and pay rates—does not disappear . . . when he chooses to harass through insults and offensive gestures rather than directly with threats 29 The distinction between supervisors and co-workers is a crucial limitation worth reiterating, but by design, it simply precludes vicarious liability under the aided in the agency relation standard for a category of would-be harassers, coworkers. The distinction does not fundamentally alter the breadth of § 219(2)(d) as written. Without further qualification, the aided in the agency relation standard risks holding the employer “automatically” liable for a supervisor’s harassment without regard to the nature of the supervisor’s conduct, a result that the Court forbade in Meritor, 477 U.S. at 72. See also Faragher, 524 U.S. at 804. Therefore, the Court found that in order to impose vicarious liability on an employer under the aided in the agency relation standard, “something more” would be required. Ellerth, 524 U.S. at 760.12 The Court’s resolution of this question reflects an intricate balance incorporated into a complex rule of law with multiple components. of firing or promises of promotion.” Id. (citing Estrich, Sex at Work, 43 STAN. L. REV. 813, 854 (1991)). At oral argument, the PA State Police contended that none of the individual officers had the requisite authority to commit a tangible employment action because they could not discharge or demote Suders. We reject this attempt to rein in the scope of a supervisor within the meaning of Ellerth and Faragher. The record in this case clearly reflected that (1) Easton was responsible for the day-to-day supervision of the McConnellsburg barracks; and (2) both Baker and Prendergast had supervisory duties with respect to “running [their] shift[s].” App. at 215. No more is required to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to their supervisory authority. We are not persuaded, however, that the actions of Smith-Elliot amounted to actionable harassment. Her supervisory authority over Suders was not clearly established in the record below. Although her conduct is relevant, especially to the affirmative defense, we strain to see how it alone substantiates a claim under Title VII. Nevertheless, in light of our remand, these issues may be addressed on the merits. 12. See also Faragher, 524 U.S. at 797 (“The proper analysis here, then, calls not for a mechanical application of indefinite and malleable factors set forth in the Restatement . . . , but rather an inquiry into the reasons that would support a conclusion that harassing behavior ought to be held within the scope of a supervisor’s employment, and the reasons for the opposite view.”). 30 First, the Court identified a class of supervisory actions for which more than the mere existence of the agency relation is unquestionably required for the commission of the alleged harassment: “when a supervisor takes a tangible employment action against the subordinate.” Id. When a supervisor’s actions result in a tangible employment action, the employer shall be strictly liable for the actionable harassment of its supervisors, without regard to an affirmative defense. Id. at 765; Faragher, 524 U.S. at 808. The Court’s discussion of the attributes of a tangible employment action is critical to the present appeal. In broad strokes, a tangible employment action “constitutes a significant change in employment status.” Ellerth, 524 U.S. at 761. A tangible employment action is also defined by reference to a non-exclusive list of representative workplace actions, “such as hiring, firing, failing to promote, reassignment with significantly different responsibilities, or a decision causing a significant change in benefits.” Id. at 761 (emphasis added); see also Faragher, 524 U.S. at 790. In most cases, but not always, “a tangible employment action . . . inflicts direct economic harm.” Finally, a tangible employment action implicates, in some meaningful way, the authority of the employer itself: “A tangible employment decision requires an official act of the enterprise, a company act. The decision in most cases is documented in official company records, and may be subject to review by higher level supervisors. . . . The supervisor often must obtain the imprimatur of the enterprise and use its internal processes.” Ellerth, 524 U.S. at 762 (emphases added). Second, when a supervisor’s harassment does not amount to a tangible employment action, the Court found it unclear whether the aided in the agency relation standard should support vicarious liability. In that regard, we noted above that the risk of holding the employer “automatically” liable for the acts of its supervisors was too great. Id. at 763 (“[W]e are bound by our holding in Meritor that agency principles constrain the imposition of vicarious liability in cases of supervisory harassment.”) (citations omitted). Nevertheless, for actions that fall short of a tangible employment action, but would otherwise be 31 actionable under Title VII, the Court did not give employers a free pass from liability. In cases where a supervisor’s harassment does not result in a tangible employment action, the Court made available to employers an affirmative defense, an approach designed to further the well-recognized Title VII goals of encouraging antiharassment policies and effective mechanisms for addressing employee complaints. See id. at 764; Faragher, 524 U.S. at 806. Therefore, in both Ellerth and Faragher, the Court adopted the following holding: An employer is subject to vicarious liability to a victimized employee for an actionable hostile environment created by a supervisor with immediate (or successively higher) authority over the employee. When no tangible employment action is taken, a defending employer may raise an affirmative defense to liability or damages, subject to proof by a preponderance of the evidence, see Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 8(c). The defense comprises two necessary elements: (a) that the employer exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct promptly any sexually harassing behavior, and (b) that the plaintiff employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the employer or to avoid harm otherwise. . . . No affirmative defense is available, however, when the supervisor’s harassment culminates in a tangible employment action, such as discharge, demotion, or undesirable reassignment. Ellerth, 524 U.S. at 765; Faragher, 524 U.S. at 807-08.