Kentucky Employment Law Blog

When Does A Racial Hostile Work Environment Become Unlawful?

In a racial harassment case an unlawful the hostile work environment exists where the harassment is severe or pervasive.  Recently, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in EEOC v. Central Wholesalers, No. 08-1181 (July 23, 2009), described the type of facts that could establish an unlawful hostile work environment:

"We also conclude that a reasonable jury could find that the race-based harassment was objectively severe or pervasive.  Three of Medley's co-workers in Inside Sales used the word n****r, and at least one of them used it 'pretty much everyday.'  Moreover, during the November 10 incident, DaBay called Medley a black stupid n****r, a black n****r, and a black stupid b***h, among other derogatory terms.  In addition, two of her co-worker's kept blue-colored mop-head dolls in their offices which they had hanging by nooses tied around the dolls' necks.  As in past cases, 'we cannot ignore the habitual use of epithets here or view the conduct without an eye for its cumulative effect.'" 

Robert L. Abell
www.RobertAbellLaw.com

When Does Sexual Harassment Become Unlawful?

To rise to the level of an unlawful hostile work environment based on sex the gender-based harassment must be severe or pervasive.  The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in EEOC v. Central Wholesalers, No 08-1181 (July 24, 2009), recently described a hostile work environment where it could be found that the sexual harassment was severe or pervasive:

"We conclude that a reasonable jury could find that the gender-based harassment was objectively severe or pervasive.  The evidence shows that Mike, Tony, and Green all regularly referred to women as b***hes.  Moreover, DaBay called Medley a b***h a number of times during the November 10 incident.  In addition, Mike -- whose cubicle was right next to Medley's -- had a Playboy calendar on his desk, kept Playboy magazines in his cubicle, hung a Playboy poster on his wall, watched pornography on his computer in Medley's presence, used a pornographic screensaver depicting partially naked women, and placed the screwdriver in the Halloween decoration in a sexual manner more than once.  This evidence is certainly sufficient to create a triable issue on whether the gender-based harassment was objectively severe or pervasive."

Robert L. Abell
www.RobertAbellLaw.com

How Can You Prove Harassment Is Based On Sex?

For workplace harassment to be illegal or unlawful under Kentucky and federal employment laws it must be proven to be motivated by some discriminatory criteria such as sex or gender. Recently, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in EEOC v. Central Wholesalers, No 08-1181 (July 21, 2009), described workplace where the harassment could be found to be motivated by sex or gender discrimination:

"The evidence shows that oneor more of Medley's co-workers used the word b***h on a daily basis when referring to women, had Playboy items around the office, watched pornography right next to Medley such that she could hear the sounds of people having sex, and used a pornographic screen-saver depicting partially naked women.  Moreover, DaBay called Medley a b***h a number of times during the November 10 incident.  In light of this evidence, a reasonable jury could conclude that the harassment was based on Medley's gender." 

Robert L. Abell
www.RobertAbellLaw.com

How Can You Prove Harassment Is Based On Race?

For harassment in the workplace to be unlawful it must be shown to be based on some sort of discriminatory criteria such as race.  Recently, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided a case, EEOC v. Central Wholesalers, No. 1181 (July 21, 2009), where the court found the following to be sufficient evidence that race motivated the harassment:

"The evidence also shows that a number of Medley's co-workers (Medley was the employee harassed) used the work n****r in her presence on a regular basis, and at least one co-worker used the word 'pretty much everyday.'  Moreover, [a co-worker] called Medley a black stupid n****r and other racially derogatory terms during the November 10 incident.  In addition, both Tony [another co-worker] and DaBay kept blue-colored mop-head dolls in their offices and had the dolls hanging from noose which were tied around the dolls' necks.  Given this evidence, a reasonable jury could conclude that the harassment was also based on Medley's race."

Robert L. Abell
www.RobertAbellLaw.com