Faragher v. City of Boca Raton
| Faragher v. City of Boca Raton | |
|---|---|
| Argued March 25, 1998 Decided June 26, 1998 | |
| Full case name | Beth Ann Faragher, Petitioner v. City of Boca Raton, Florida |
| Citations | 524 U.S. 775 (more) 118 S. Ct. 2275; 141 L. Ed. 2d 662; 1998 U.S. LEXIS 4216; 66 U.S.L.W. 4643; 77 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 14; 73 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) ¶ 45,341; 157 A.L.R. Fed. 663; 98 Cal. Daily Op. Service 5048; 98 Daily Journal DAR 7000; 1998 Colo. J. C.A.R. 3375; 11 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 699 |
| Argument | Oral argument |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Ruling in favor of plaintiff, 864 F. Supp. 1552 (S.D. Fla. 1994); reversed, 76 F.3d 1155 (11th Cir. 1996); vacated, 83 F.3d 1346 (11th Cir. 1996); on rehearing en banc, 111 F.3d 1530 (11th Cir. 1997); cert. granted, 522 U.S. 978 (1997). |
| Subsequent | On remand, 166 F.3d 1152 (11th Cir. 1999). |
| Holding | |
| An employer is vicariously liable for actionable discrimination caused by a supervisor, but subject to an affirmative defense looking to the reasonableness of the employer's conduct as well as that of the plaintiff. | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Souter, joined by Rehnquist, Stevens, O'Connor, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer |
| Dissent | Thomas, joined by Scalia |
Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775 (1998), is a US labor law case of the United States Supreme Court in which the Court identified the circumstances under which an employer may be held liable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for the acts of a supervisory employee whose sexual harassment of subordinates has created a hostile work environment amounting to employment discrimination. The court held that "an employer is vicariously liable for actionable discrimination caused by a supervisor, but subject to an affirmative defense looking to the reasonableness of the employer's conduct as well as that of a plaintiff victim."