The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently ruled in an employment discrimination case.  The Court framed the issue presented in the context of a motion to dismiss as follows: 

“[T]he central question presented is whether a false rumor that a female employee slept with her male boss to obtain promotion can ever give rise to her employer’s liability under Title VII for discrimination ‘because of sex.’  We conclude that the allegations of the employee’s complaint in this case, where the employer is charged with participating in the circulation of the rumor and acting on it by sanctioning the employee, do implicate such liability.”

Title VII states, in part, that it is an unlawful employment practice “to discharge . . . or otherwise to discriminate” against an employee “with respect to . . . conditions . . . of employment, because of such individual’s . . . sex . . .; or to limit, segregate, or classify [such] employee[] . . . in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive [the employee] of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect [the employee’s] status as an employee, because of such [employee’s] . . . sex.” 

An employee claiming a severe or pervasive hostile work environment because of her sex can obtain relief under Title VII.  In its simplest terms, the elements of a claim under Title VII for a hostile work environment against an employer, because of sex, consists of the following:  (1)  “unwelcome” conduct; (2) based on the employee’s sex; (3) that was “sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment and create an abusive atmosphere;” and (4) that is, on some basis, imputable to the employer. 

The Fourth Circuit addressed the “because of sex” aspect of the case as follows:  “She [the plaintiff] plausibly invokes a deeply rooted perception — one that unfortunately still persists — that generally women, not men, use sex to achieve success.  And with this double standard, women, but not men, are susceptible to being labeled as ‘sluts’ or worse, prostitutes selling their bodies for gain.”

Much of the Fourth Circuit’s opinion, which was based on accepting the allegations of the complaint as true for procedural purposes, focused on management’s activities.  For example, the Court noted that the complaint alleged that the highest- ranking manager at the warehouse facility participated in spreading the rumor.

The Court also pointed out that supervisors allegedly engaged in conduct that treated the plaintiff differently because of her sex and distracted that employees that she managed.

Moreover, the Court emphasized that the plaintiff was given various written warnings and fired, allegedly because of her sex. 

Therefore, the Court reversed the District Court’s Order dismissing two counts of the complaint, including one count that alleged retaliation for complaining about the workplace conditions.

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