This paper will examine sexual harassment in the American workplace. The discussion will be divided into two parts: 1) sexual harassment and 2) employer liability and responsibility for this harassment. The first part of the paper will define sexual harassment as that term is used in the context of employment. The paper will show why defining sexual harassment is difficult and will present a variety of situations which have been recently defined by American courts as constituting sexual harassment in employment. The first part of the discussion will also present the three main motivations for sexual harassment.
The second part of the paper will focus on recent cases which have defined when an employer will be held liable for sexual harassment in connection with the course and scope of a person's employment. The discussion will include an analysis of the landmark case of Lehmann v. Toys 'R Us, Inc.1 as well as show how that opinion and its predecessors defined the elements of a hostile work environment claim. Moreover, this paper will also show how this opinion set a new standard for gender discrimination or sexual harassment causes of action. Finally, the second part of this paper will discuss the various ways an employer might be held liable for the conduct of an employee as well as explore the different types of damages which a court might award to a harassed plaintiff.
During the 1990s, the issue of sexual harassment has dominated the press more than any other workplace issue.2 In 1993, legal scholar Monica L. Sherer noted that, because of events such as the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings, American society has been compelled to confront the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace.3 In fact, although the Hill-Thomas hearings were not the first time that the issue of sexual harassment had been heard by the Senate, those hearings opened the floodgates to an unprecedented amount of public debate and commentary o...