Employers can be liable for harassment happening outside of work

Generally, employers aren’t responsible for events involving their employees that happen after hours and away from work. But that isn’t always the case. In its April 2024 Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) detailed how actions away from the workplace can result in harassment liability for the employer if the conduct has consequences in the workplace.

Examples of off-site conduct

The EEOC’s guidance includes a number of categories of off-site conduct as examples.

“Conduct That Occurs in Work-Related Context Outside of Regular Place of Work”: This category is fairly obvious. It includes instances when harassing conduct or behavior occurs away from an employee’s regular workplace and perhaps outside regular hours of work but happens “within the work environment.” Off-site training, business dinners, company parties, or employer-sponsored sporting events are common examples.

“Conduct That Occurs in a Non-Work-Related Context, But with Impact on the Workplace”: This category is trickier. Here, the key is whether—although happening after work hours, away from work, and unrelated to work—the harassing behavior causes or contributes to a hostile environment in the workplace. This can happen through after-hours, face-to-face interactions between employees or through electronic communication or social media.