Oracle Corp. Beats Harassment, But Not Sex Discrimination Claims

Oracle Corp. won dismissal of a former employee’s sexual harassment allegations but failed to shake off her sex discrimination claims after the District of Arizona found a sufficient showing that the reason given for firing her was “mere pretext for discrimination.”

Catherine Beardsley can’t go forward with her claims of sexual harassment based on a hostile work environment under Title VII because the incidents she cites aren’t “of a sexual nature,” the court said.

Beardsley didn’t show that a supervisor’s use of the term “Cluster F***" in describing a meeting with other Oracle managers had a sexual connotation, the court ...