Hostile Work Environment

THIS CASEBOOK contains a selection of U. S. Court of Appeals decisions that analyze and discuss issues surrounding hostile work environment claims. Volume 2 of the casebook covers the Sixth through the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

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To establish a prima facie case for hostile work environment, a plaintiff must show: (1) she belongs to a protected group; (2) she was subject to unwelcome harassment; (3) a casual nexus exists between the harassment and the protected group status; (4) the harassment affected a term, condition, or privilege of employment; and (5) her employer knew or should have known of the harassment and failed to take proper action. Blomker, 831 F.3d at 1056 ("the elements of a prima facie case may be used as a prism to shed light upon the plausibility of the claim").

The fourth element-the harassment affected a term, condition, or privilege of employment-involves "both objective and subjective components." Id., quoting Sandoval v. Am. Bldg. Maint. Indus., Inc., 578 F.3d 787, 801 (8th Cir. 2009). At the pleading phase, the court must determine whether the alleged harassment is "severe or pervasive enough to create an objectively hostile or abusive work environment and the victim must subjectively believe her working conditions have been altered." Id. (internal quotations omitted).

To determine whether a complaint alleges an objectively hostile work environment, the court looks at the "totality of the circumstances." Id. at 1057 (citations omitted). The court may consider circumstances such as the "frequency and severity of the discriminatory conduct," whether the conduct was "physically threatening or humiliating, as opposed to a mere offensive utterance," and whether the "conduct unreasonably interfered with the employee's work performance." Id. (internal quotations omitted) (citations omitted). A hostile work environment claim must allege more "than a few isolated incidents." Id. (citation omitted). The alleged harassment "must be so intimidating, offensive, or hostile that it poisoned the work environment." Id. (internal quotations omitted).

The Supreme Court has "cautioned courts to be alert for workplace behavior that does not rise to the level of actionable harassment." Id. at 1056-57 (citation omitted). The "standards for a hostile environment are demanding, and conduct must be extreme and not merely rude or unpleasant to affect the terms and conditions of employment." Id. at 1057 (internal quotations omitted) (citations omitted). Courts must "filter out complaints attacking the ordinary tribulations of the workplace, such as the sporadic use of abusive language, gender-related jokes, and occasional teasing." Id. (emphasis in original), quoting Al-Zubaidy v. TEK Indus., Inc., 406 F.3d 1030, 1039 (8th Cir. 2005); Nitsche v. CEO of Osage Valley Elec. Co-op., 446 F.3d 841, 845-46 (8th Cir. 2006) (same). Even "vile or inappropriate" behavior may be insufficient to rise to the level of an actionable hostile work environment claim. Blomker, 831 F.3d at 1058.

Warmington v. Board of Regents of University of MN, 998 F. 3d 789 (8th Cir. 2021)