Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act places liability on an employer who fails to take appropriate corrective action when female employees are being sexually harassed by co-workers, supervisors, and third-parties who are not employed by the offending employer. For example, if a company has a regular UPS or FedEx deliveryman who makes offensive jokes or engages in offensive conduct while on the employer's premises, female employees are well within their rights to complain to management that it needs to stop the conduct by the UPS driver. The fact that the UPS driver does not work for the employer is wholly irrelevant to the analysis. Failure to stop the sexually hostile environment is illegal, no matter the cause of the sexually hostile environment.
In Beckford v. Florida Department of Corrections, the Atlanta-based Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a jury verdict in favor of female correctional officers who were sexually harassed by inmates. This is the first time the Eleventh Circuit has affirmed liability premised on sexual harassment by inmates. Other circuits have made similar conclusions regarding inmates. The Department of Corrections argued that prisons should be exempt from Title VII because of the unique nature of prisons and inmates. The Court categorically rejected the Department's argument and held that prisons are no different from other employers. The Department knew that female officers were complaining about gender based abuse from inmates, but the Department did nothing to remedy the situation.
Beckford is also important because it reaffirmed the Eleventh Circuit's decision in Reeves v. C.H. Robinson Worldwide that the use of certain words, including cunt, bitch, whore and slut, are inherently gender based.
The unanimous opinion, authored by Judge Pryor, is here:
Questions about sexual harassment? Contact an experienced employment attorney before you quit and before you lose your rights.
