Opinion ID: 1109475
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Liability: Construction of the ordinance.

Text: The Dade County ordinance provided in pertinent part: Sec. 11A-22. Unlawful practices. (a) It shall be unlawful employment practice for an employer: (1) To fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his or her compensation, benefits, terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of such individual's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, sex, physical handicap, marital status or place of birth... . The union argues that the board improperly acted as a court in that it had to construe the ordinance to find that sexual harassment constituted employment discrimination. Only courts can construe the law, the union argues, citing no less weighty authority than Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137, 2 L.Ed 60 (1803). The union ignores the fact that administrative agencies are necessarily called upon to interpret statutes in order to determine the reach of their jurisdiction. Moreover, the construction of a statute by the agency charged with its administration is entitled to great weight and will not be overturned unless clearly erroneous. Department of Ins. v. Southeast Volusia Hosp. Dist., 438 So.2d 815 (Fla. 1983), appeal dismissed, 466 U.S. 901, 104 S.Ct. 1673, 80 L.Ed.2d 149 (1984). The board had a right to interpret the ordinance's proscription against sexual discrimination in the workplace to include sexual harassment, and that interpretation was eminently reasonable. See Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57, 106 S.Ct. 2399, 91 L.Ed.2d 49 (1986), in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that a woman who had been sexually harassed at her job had a cause of action for employment discrimination under the analogous Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.