DC Circuit Holds Employee Waited Too Long to Report Sexual Harassment and that Alleged Retaliatory Acts Were Not Sufficiently Adverse

In Taylor v. Solis, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit last week upheld summary judgment in favor of the Department of Labor, her employer, on the grounds that the plaintiff waited too long to report the sexual harassment that she alleges made her work environment hostile, and that when she did report the harassment the Department of Labor took prompt and reasonable steps in response. The Court noted that an employee has a "prompt reporting duty" under the law as interpreted by the Supreme Court, and that in her case waiting five or six months to report the harassment was not prompt.

Addressing the plaintiff's retaliation claim which was based on six separate alleged acts of retaliation, the Court concluding, in an important post-Burlington Northern analysis, that five of the six acts were not so materially adverse to support a claim under Title VII. The Court concluded that such acts as criticizing the plaintiff, slowing the processing of her work and giving her some additional job responsibilities, and lowering her performance evaluation were not so "materially adverse" to support a retaliation claim.

A copy of the decision can be read here.

Please visit the Farrell & Gunderson website and contact Eric W. Gunderson if you would like additional information or guidance on Title VII hostile work environment or retaliation claims.