Welcome to Littler´s Employment Law Quiz! Fine-tune your knowledge of employment law while improving your employee relations skills at the same time. You can test yourself or send this quiz around to your managers. Good luck!

Sexual Harassment by a Co-worker

Mary, a secretary, complains that her coworkers are repeatedly speaking about their views on homosexuality. Mary is not homosexual, but finds this conduct offensive. She complains to her supervisor, who does not take action to preclude these comments. Mary then sues for sexual harassment, claiming that she was forced to work in a hostile environment. Will Mary prevail on her claim?

A. Yes, simply because the supervisor failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action.

B. Yes, if the conduct by Mary´s coworkers was sufficiently pervasive.

C. Probably not, because the alleged misconduct was not based upon sex and did not discriminate on the basis of sex.

D. Probably, if Mary can show that a reasonable person would be offended by her coworkers´ conduct and that she was subjectively offended by such.

E. No, because Mary is not a homosexual.

The best answer is D. The U.S. Supreme Court and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have concluded that sexual harassment is a component of the unlawful sex discrimination forbidden by Title VII. Therefore, in order to state a viable sexual harassment claim based on a hostile environment theory, the complained-of conduct must be discriminatory because of sex. If Mary is subjectively offended by her coworkers discussing homosexuality, she will probably prevail on her sexual harassment claim if the complained of conduct is severe and pervasive enough to constitute a hostile work environment.