Former employee's harassment claims snuffed out by her own conduct

For current or former employees to claim they are victims of unwelcome and unlawful workplace harassment in the workplace, the conduct must be both unwelcome and offensive to the individual asserting the charges. In a recent decision out of Nebraska, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit upheld the lower court's dismissal of the former employee's sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation claims, relying in large part on her own conduct in the workplace, including her violation of the company's policy prohibiting sexually suggestive pictures or written words, slurs, or innuendos. Let's examine the decision.

Crude comments flying in both directions

In December 2013, Amanda Gibson began working for Concrete Equipment Company, which manufactures portable and stationary concrete batch plants and mixers. During her stint with the company, she used sexualized, vulgar language on multiple occasions and was reprimanded for violating the company's harassment policy, including one incident that resulted in her suspension.

Gibson alleged she also experienced several instances of crude, sexually charged behavior directed at her by coworkers, including males making inappropriate comments to her. The evidence didn't establish, however, that the complaints about the male coworkers' conduct had been brought to management, in contrast to multiple complaints about her own behavior.