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Former McDonald’s Employee’s Harassment Claim Fails

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
08/03/2023
Employment Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment, Sex Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Orientation
To prevail on a hostile work environment claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a plaintiff must typically show that there is unwelcome conduct that is based on the plaintiff’s protected characteristic, which is sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the plaintiff’s conditions of employment, and that the employment action is imputable to the employer.  When considering whether there is a hostile work environment, courts look...
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Harassment Claim Based On Offensive Music Given New Life

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
06/14/2023
Employment Discrimination, Hostile Work Environment, Sexual Harassment
Can an employer be liable for workplace harassment resulting from music with sexually graphic lyrics when both women and men find the music offensive?  Last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals answered that question with a resounding “yes.”  Sharp v. S&S Activewear, L.L.C., No. 21-17138 (9th Cir. June 7, 2023).  The court had little trouble reversing the trial court’s decision that because employees of both sexes found the music...
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House Passes The Speak Out Act

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/16/2022
Legislative Developments, Sexual Harassment
On November 16, 2022, the House of Representatives passed a bill that will nullify some nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) signed by employees who assert claims of sexual harassment or assault. The bill, known as The Speak Out Act (S. 4524), passed the Senate unanimously in September. It will now head to President Biden for his signature. In the findings prefacing the bill, Congress wrote, “[n]ondisclosure and nondisparagement provisions in...
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Disabled Student’s Inappropriate Touching Did Not Create a Hostile Work Environment

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
08/02/2022
Sexual Harassment, Virginia Employment Law
In a recent decision, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals considered the difficult circumstances in which special education teacher often operate and how that environment can intersect with protections against workplace discrimination and harassment.  The case, according to the court, brought “to light the difficult balance that schools must find between ensuring that all students have access to a public school education while simultaneously...
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Kiss, Hugs, and Rude Comments Not Enough for Viable Sex Harassment Claim

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
06/28/2022
Sexual Harassment, Virginia Employment Law
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) makes it unlawful for an employer to “discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s . . . sex.”  42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1).  Title VII’s prohibitions cover sex-based harassment that is “sufficiently severe or pervasive” such that it amounts to an actual change in an individual’s...
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Attorney’s Participation in Sexual Harassment Investigation Waives Attorney-Client Privilege

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
05/22/2022
Sexual Harassment, Virginia Employment Law
Communications between an attorney and its clients are privileged, and must not be shared in discovery.  However, when that privilege is waived, communications between a client and the attorney lose their protection and become discoverable.  That is what a U.S. District Court Judge concluded in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. In Jennifer Berry Brown v. Town of Front Royal, VA, Civil Action...
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Maryland Senate Bill Changing Definition of Sexual Harassment “Crosses Over” to House of Delegates

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
03/24/2022
Legislative Developments, Sexual Harassment
Monday, March 21, 2022, was “crossover day” in the Maryland General Assembly.  As a quick Maryland civics lesson, the Maryland General Assembly is comprised of two chambers, the Maryland State Senate and the Maryland House of Delegates.  Bills are proposed and debated in both chambers.  On crossover day, those bills that have passed by vote in one chamber are crossed over to the other chamber for further debate and vote.  Any bills that did...
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Congress on Cusp of Barring Arbitration for Employee Sexual Harassment Claims

Vincent Jackson
Vincent Jackson
02/10/2022
Arbitration, Sexual Harassment
In response to the #MeToo Movement, Congress is on the cusp of passing bipartisan legislation that would prohibit employers from using forced arbitration to resolve claims of workplace sexual harassment and sexual assault.  Though the final bill has not yet been presented for the President’s signature, drafts of the bill have passed both the House and the Senate.  The ban on mandatory arbitration in employment contracts marks a sea change in how...
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“Paramour Preference” Is Not a Title VII Violation, says Ninth Circuit

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
08/25/2021
Employment Discrimination, Sex Discrimination, Sexual Harassment
When I lectured on sex discrimination and harassment to my law school students, I’d pose the following question:  “does the person who didn’t (consensually) date the boss and who then didn’t get promoted have a claim for discrimination or harassment?  No?  But what if I just never got the chance to date them?  I mean, I would have been willing to do so if I’d known that might help me advance or keep my job.”  While some students...
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Maryland District Court Permits Claim Alleging Supervisor Harassment

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/10/2020
Employment Discrimination, Sexual Harassment
Last Friday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland reminded us all about the importance of preventing workplace harassment and especially harassment by supervisors and managers.  In Rosinbum v. Azar, No. TDC-19-3119 (Nov. 6, 2020), the Court found that a former FDA research fellow sufficiently alleged claims of discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environment under Title VII. The bulk of the Court’s opinion recites...
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