Warning: harassment prohibition policies may not be enough

Lexology.com Wildman Harrold Allen & Dixon LLP Andrew M. Slobodien USA March 18 2011 Since the landmark 1998 Supreme Court decisions in Faragher v. City of Boca Raton and Burlington Industries v. Ellerth, most companies have recognized the importance of adopting proper EEO and anti-harassment policies. A new line of cases suggest that this is not enough. Various lower courts, such as in the recent case, Winchester v. National Mutual Insurance Co., have held that an employer can meet its burden to show that it took reasonable efforts to “prevent and correct” harassment only if it also conducts training and otherwise acts to actively engage employees with the policies. The Faragher / Ellerth Affirmative Defense In Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775 (1998) and Burlington Industries v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742 (1998), the U. S. Supreme Court held that an employer has a complete defense to liability for certain sexually harassing conduct if it can prove that: (1) it exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct the harassment; and (2) the employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of the corrective or preventive opportunities which the employer provided, or to avoid harm otherwise. This defense applies only when the harassment did not culminate in a tangible adverse employment action, such as termination or demotion. Current State of the Law Full Story: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=baa2d54c-14f5-42b3-8839-9a4e0646f99c&utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&utm_medium=HTML+email+-+Body+-+Federal+section&utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2011-03-28&utm_term=