When is an employer liable for harassment based on race, sex or some other protected class?
An employer is liable if a management level employee engages in the harassment. Courts have also held an employer liable when a management level employee is aware of co-worker harassment but fails to take adequate steps to stop the harassment. An employer can be liable where its own negligence is a cause of the harassment. An employer is negligent with respect to sexual harassment if it knew or should have known about the conduct and failed to stop it. Negligence sets a minimum standard for employer liability under Title VII. Employers are liable for failing to remedy or prevent a hostile or offensive work environment of which a management-level employee knew, or in the exercise of reasonable care, should have known.
