Question

Mary Barnes was employed by the Manwell Company of Maine, Wyoming [324 full-time employees].   She worked at an off-site location near Maine keeping track of the inventory in that facility. Mary was the only female in the building and Milton, her supervisor, subjected her to occasional verbal abuse. [Milton had never received training concerning sexual harassment in his eight years with the company.] He often used vulgar language to refer to women, regularly told lewd jokes and made gestures insulting women in her presence but never directly addressed Mary. In addition to putting up with Milton’s comments, Mary grew tired of the behavior of Buford, the Office Supply salesmen who came by every month to take orders and make deliveries. Buford commented on her breasts and often asked her, with a smirk, if she was interested in going to the rodeo with him to see the “bucking broncos” in action.   Mary became increasingly frustrated and decided to quit. She never reviewed the firm’s sexual harassment policy contained in the employee handbook. To avoid angering her spouse, an intensely jealous man, Mary never filed a complaint with the company’s EEO hotline or complained to the HR office about the behavior of Milton or Buford. Also, following services one Sunday shortly after Buford’s “bucking bronco” remark she complained about Buford, who happened to be a member of her congregation, to Abel, another member of her church and the deputy general manager at Big Sky [who had also never received training in sexual harassment] when they bumped into each other in the church parking lot.   Abel nodded his head sympathetically and said he would pray for Buford’s redemption but declined to speak with him out of concern over distressing Buford’s wife. Explain what Mary must prove [i.e., state each element of the prima facie case and analyze the facts to see if evidence exists in support] in order to maintain a case for sexual harassment [and specify what type of sexual harassment, if any, she could allege against Manwell .]. [Assume that she has filed a charge with the EEOC, that the agency found no reasonable cause for the charge and issued a Right to Sue letter.]

Discuss how the court would rule on Manwell’s attempt to avoid liability for the actions of (A) Milton and (B) Buford. [Be sure to explain the standard the court would apply under Title VII for employer liability for the actions of (A) Milton and (B) Buford.]   Who would win if the case winds up in federal court? Would the result be the same if the conduct occurred in California? Be sure to explain your answer.

Answer 1

From the prima facie of the case it is noted that Mary is subject ti sexual harrasement at workplace by her supervisor Milton and sales boy Bufford. They are pssing lewd comments and showing gesture which cannot be accpeted as dignified and defending modesty of any women. To prove this point Mary cannot get any witness also because these people will not pass lewd comment infront of anyone. There must be CCTV footage in the company and Mary can show this as evidence to prove that she is subjected to sexual harrasement.Apart from CCTV footage and her own statement she does not have any other evidence to submit for sexual harrsement. She can file sexual harrasement at work place by her supervisor. There are mandatory procedure for every organization to have prevention of sexual harrsement policy and through this she can approach the management with written complaint about the suffering she is going on. She cannot raise it against Manwell because Mary has not complaint against Manwell in official capacity but in informal way so it cannot be treated as valid complaint.

In Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 118 S. Ct. 2275 (1998), Supreme Court have cleared that an employer is repsonsible for providing best atmosphere and environment for women to work safely by maintaining their dignity. The employer is also equal responsible if after thorough complaint it did not able to stop sexual harrasement against Mary. Mary can move Federal court with proper evidence as stated above and can win the case. California has strict laws for sexual harrassment and the result would have been more strict had it filed in California. Fair Employment and Housing Act of California deals with such cases.