Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 2, 1993 TAG: 9303020194
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
SEX-HARASSMENT RULING TO CLARIFY BURDEN OF PROOF
The Supreme Court said Monday it would use a Tennessee case to set a clear standard for determining when sexist behavior in the workplace is illegal sexual harassment.The court will decide whether a worker who claims to be a victim of sexual harassment must prove "serious psychological injury" in order to collect damages.
The case, to be argued this fall, involves a woman who sued her boss for repeatedly denigrating her. For instance, he told her, "You're a woman, what do you know?" and joked to her in front of other people, "Let's go to the Holiday Inn to negotiate your raise."
Although federal courts in Tennessee said his remarks were crude, vulgar and offensive to a "reasonable female manager," her complaint was dismissed because she did not suffer serious psychological injury.
The Supreme Court in 1986 said sexual harassment violates Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act when it creates a hostile working environment. Now the justices will specify how much emotional or psychological damage the law requires a worker to show.
The awaited ruling is important because the Civil Rights Act of 1991 allows collecting of compensatory and punitive damages for intentional discrimination.
In the Tennessee case, Teresa Harris sued Forklift System Inc., of Nashville. She said President Charles Hardy repeatedly made derogatory comments to her, asked female employees to get coins from his front pants pocket, made sexual innuendoes about workers' clothing and threw objects on the ground so female employees would have to bend over to pick them up.
Harris said she first tried avoiding Hardy, but eventually became anxious and upset, crying frequently, not wanting to go to work and drinking heavily.