Opinion ID: 1060691
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Faragher v. City of Boca Raton

Text: In Faragher , the plaintiff worked part-time as a lifeguard for the defendant from approximately 1985 to 1990. She alleged that her supervisors subjected her to a sexually hostile atmosphere. Her allegations included sexually offensive comments and unwanted touchings from two of her supervisors, Silverman and Terry. Faragher spoke informally with one of her supervisors, Gordon, but she did not initiate a formal complaint to upper management. Faragher, 118 S.Ct. at 2281. She left her job as a lifeguard in 1990. The City remained unaware of the alleged sexual harassment until April of 1990 when one of Faragher's co-workers complained of sexual harassment in a letter to the City's Director of Personnel. The City investigated the complaint and reprimanded the harassing supervisors. Faragher initiated suit in 1992 alleging violations of Title VII. The City of Boca Raton had adopted an anti-sexual harassment policy in 1986. Id. at 2280. Although the 1986 policy was addressed to all City employees, the policy was issued only to a portion of the City employees. The City revised and reissued the policy in 1990. Id. The revised policy detailed the City's policy against sexual harassment. Id. at 2281, 2294. The policy was not properly disseminated, and Faragher's supervisors were unaware of the anti-harassment policy prior to litigation. The district court ruled that the City was liable for sexual harassment because: (1) the City had knowledge or constructive knowledge of the harassment; (2) the harassing supervisors were acting as agents of the City; and (3) Gordon's knowledge of the sexual harassment could be imputed to the City. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court's holding that the City was liable. The Eleventh Circuit reasoned that the supervisors' acts of sexual harassment were outside the scope of employment and that their conduct was not aided by the agency relationship. Id. at 2281. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.