Worker Harassment Cases Get ‘Tricky’ With Mentally Ill Patients

The EEOC’s recent federal appeals court loss in a case where assisted living residents harassed workers left unresolved the extent to which employers face liability over the use of racist slurs from mentally impaired people who aren’t employees.

Last week, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which sued Village at Hamilton Pointe LLC on behalf of several Black nurses and other staff. The appeals court upheld various lower court judgments and a jury verdict that mostly excused the assisted living facility operator from “third party” harassment liability for elderly residents’ ...