Court Revives Third-Party Harassment Claim, Saying Jury Could Find Employer Negligence

A black female former employee for a North Carolina firm has triable sexual and racial harassment claims under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act based on evidence her employer did not adequately respond to persistent offensive remarks and conduct by a customer, a divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled April 29 (Freeman v. Dal-Tile Corp., 2014 BL 119739, 4th Cir., 13-1481, 4/29/14).

In a 2-1 decision, the court revived the Title VII third-party harassment claims of Lori Freeman, who formerly worked for Dal-Tile Corp., a tile and natural stone product manufacturer ...