Supreme Court’s Two Decisions Based on Common Framework
WASHINGTON — For the Supreme Court, Friday’s two decisions on sexual harassment marked an unusual effort to announce a clear set of rules to govern what has been a confused area of law. Justices David H. Souter and Anthony M. Kennedy, in reading their opinions from the bench, said the court had agreed on a common framework. Both opinions included the same paragraphs.
They set forth three points:
* Employers are always liable for sexual harassment by supervisors if a victim suffers “a tangible employment action, such as a discharge, demotion or undesirable reassignment.â€
* Even in the absence of such actions, employers are usually liable when employees are subjected to a “hostile environment,†such as lewd and abusive comments from a supervisor.
* However, in these instances, employers can avoid a big damage award if they can prove that they had “exercised reasonable care to prevent†harassment and that the victim “unreasonably failed to take advantage†of complaint procedures.
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