Court Opinion

ID: 9557703
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 16:55:37.611775+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:06:18.332480
License: Public Domain

LOKEN, Chief Judge,
concurring.
Relying on cases such as Hall v. Gus Construction Co., 842 F.2d 1010 (8th Cir.1988), that had nothing to do with applying the Ellerth-Faragher defense, Judge Bye argues that the City failed to satisfy the “correction prong” of the defense because it had actual or constructive notice of pos*729sible harassment before either plaintiff complained. In my view, this issue is controlled by a portion of the Supreme Court’s explicit holding in Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775, 807-08, 118 S.Ct. 2275, 141 L.Ed.2d 662 (1998):
while proof that an employee failed to fulfill the corresponding obligation of reasonable care to avoid harm is not limited to showing an unreasonable failure to use any complaint procedure provided by the employer, a demonstration of such failure will normally suffice to satisfy the employer’s burden under the second element of the defense.
Thus, I find Judge Shepherd’s discussion of whether the City had constructive notice to be unnecessary, although I agree with his conclusion. With this caveat, I join in Judge Shepherd’s opinion.