Costco Customer Stalking Case Highlights Another Harassment Issue

A federal appeals court affirmed a jury’s finding that Costco’s attempts to stop a customer’s stalking of one of its employees was too little, too late.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit’s Sept. 10 ruling “does a few important things,” Emily Martin told Bloomberg Law. Martin is the vice president for education and workplace justice at the National Women’s Law Center in Washington.

The opinion “reminds employers that third-party harassment requires them to take corrective action. It recognizes that being stalked at work over a period of months does have an impact and is objectively offensive. And ...