Question

Please briefly explain Ellison v. Brady 924 F.2d 872 (9th cir. 1991) in your own words

Answer 1

It was a landmark case for sexual harassment at workplace and helped set the "reasonable women" standard and that not all flirtations are harmless and that they must be viewed from the lenses of the victim or women.

The case facts are:

Ellison was constantly stalked by a coworker and when she complained about it to her superiors, they discounted this behaviour as harmless and just trivial. This opinion was shared by even the District Courts. However, the "Court of Appeals" reversed the decision of District Court as it expressed that the behaviour of defendent should be viewed from the lenses of women who are constant victims of rape and sexual assaults. Although, this kind of behaviour may be harmless from the lenses of men, women may be traumatised by such behaviour and are super sensitive to these things. Hence, the judgment of in favour of Ellison