Faragher v. City of Boca Raton

Background

Beth Ann Faragher worked as an ocean lifeguard for the City of Boca Raton from 1985 to 1990. Her immediate supervisors repeatedly made lewd remarks and engaged in uninvited touching and other conduct that the District Court found created a sexually hostile work environment. The District Court awarded nominal damages to Faragher. The Eleventh Circuit reversed, and the case reached the Supreme Court to decide when an employer can be held responsible for a supervisor’s harassment.

Reasoning

The Court addressed whether and when an employer is vicariously liable for a supervisor’s hostile conduct. It held that an employer can be held vicariously liable when a supervisor with immediate authority creates an actionable hostile work environment. If the supervisor did not take a tangible employment action (like firing or demoting), the employer may raise an affirmative defense by proving two things: (a) it exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct harassment, and (b) the employee unreasonably failed to use the employer’s preventive or corrective opportunities. If a tangible employment action occurred, no affirmative defense applies. In Faragher’s case the City failed to show reasonable care (it did not effectively disseminate its harassment policy), so the Court reversed the Eleventh Circuit and reinstated the District Court judgment for Faragher.

Real world impact

The decision requires employers to take concrete steps—clear policies, complaint procedures, and oversight—to avoid vicarious liability. It also makes employees’ timely use of available complaint systems relevant to damage claims. The rule balances employer responsibility and incentives to prevent harassment.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Thomas (joined by Justice Scalia) dissented, arguing that absent an adverse tangible employment action an employer should not be held vicariously liable and that the City should be allowed further opportunity to prove its defenses.