Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth

1998-06-26

Headline: Limits employer immunity by allowing employees to sue when a supervisor creates a sexually hostile workplace, while letting employers raise a defense if no tangible job action occurred, affecting employers and workers nationwide.

Holding: The Court held employers may be held responsible when a supervisor with authority creates a sexually hostile work environment, but may avoid liability by proving reasonable prevention and the employee's unreasonable failure to report if no tangible job action occurred.

Real World Impact:

Allows employees to hold employers responsible for supervisor-created hostile workplaces even without a tangible job action.
Gives employers a defense if they show reasonable prevention and the employee failed to report.
Encourages companies to adopt and publicize anti-harassment policies and complaint procedures.

Topics: workplace sexual harassment, employer liability, Title VII, harassment policies

Summary

Background

An employee, Kimberly Ellerth, sued her employer, Burlington Industries, after alleging repeated sexual harassment by a midlevel supervisor, Ted Slowik. Ellerth described boorish comments, unwanted touching, and comments suggesting he could make her job “very hard or very easy.” She did not tell supervisors about the conduct while employed, later quit, and then filed a Title VII suit. The District Court found the conduct severe and pervasive but granted summary judgment to Burlington because the company did not know and should not have known about the harassment. The Seventh Circuit reversed.

Reasoning

The Court addressed whether an employer can be held responsible when a supervisor with authority creates a hostile work environment through unfulfilled threats. Relying on agency principles, the Court said labels like 'quid pro quo' do not control. It held employers can be held responsible for an actionable hostile environment by a supervisor with immediate or higher authority. If no tangible employment action occurred, the employer may avoid liability by proving both that it exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct harassment and that the employee unreasonably failed to use the employer's preventive or corrective options. No defense is available when the supervisor’s harassment culminates in a tangible employment action. The Court affirmed the Seventh Circuit and reversed summary judgment.

Real world impact

This decision makes employers accountable in many supervisor-harassment cases but also gives employers a defense if they can show prevention efforts and the employee’s failure to report. It encourages workplaces to adopt and publicize anti‑harassment policies and complaint procedures. Because the Court reversed summary judgment and remanded, the District Court must reconsider Ellerth’s case and related discovery rather than end the case now.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Ginsburg agreed with the judgment. Justice Thomas, joined by Justice Scalia, dissented, arguing employer liability should rest on negligence and criticizing the new vicarious-liability rule and the vagueness of the Court’s affirmative defense.