Felicia A. Wilcox v. Corrections Corporation of America
Opinion
Feleciastadi 1 Wilcox sued her employer, Corrections Corporation of America, for sexual harassment resulting in a hostile work environment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. At trial, she testified that she had complained to the company that her coworker had sexually harassed her, but the company failed to take prompt remedial action. The jury found in Wilcox's favor and awarded damages, but the district court later granted judgment as a matter of law for the company. Wilcox appeals and argues that the jury was entitled to find that the company failed to act promptly on her complaints. Because we disagree, we affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
In reviewing a judgment as a matter of law, we consider the facts in the light most favorable to Wilcox.
See
Bogle v. Orange Cty. Bd. of Cty. Comm'rs
,
In the days following Wilcox's complaint and the company's admonition not to associate with Wilcox, Jackson repeatedly rolled his eyes at Wilcox and once punched a metal machine in her presence to intimidate her. On July 23, Wilcox submitted a second complaint in which she reiterated that Jackson had hit her buttocks on July 10, adding that she was afraid he would touch her again, that this was not the first time that he had touched her, and that he had told her he could touch her if he wanted to. Wilcox concedes, however, that Jackson never touched her or made any inappropriate comments to her after her July 10 complaint.
The company brought in an outside investigator to look into these and other complaints against Jackson. On August 27, the investigator interviewed Wilcox, who told her about two additional times before July 10 that Jackson had sexually harassed her. On one occasion, Jackson squeezed her thigh and stated that he could touch her "juicy, fat thighs" if he wanted. On the other occasion, Jackson made a sexually explicit remark. On September 9, the investigator submitted her report finding that Jackson had sexually harassed Wilcox and other coworkers. On September 14, the company fired Jackson.
Wilcox later filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,
3
and she filed this lawsuit against the company under Title VII. The district court granted the company's motion for summary judgment on Wilcox's sexual harassment claim, but we reversed because a triable issue of fact existed about whether the harassment was severe or pervasive.
4
Wilcox v. Corr. Corp. of Am.
,
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
We review a district court's grant of judgment as a matter of law
de novo
.
Bogle
,
III. DISCUSSION
To prevail in a suit against her employer for a fellow employee's sexual harassment that resulted in a hostile work environment, a plaintiff must prove five elements:
(1) The employee belongs to a protected group;
(2) the employee was subject to unwelcome sexual harassment;
(3) the harassment complained of was based upon sex;
*1287 (4) the harassment complained of was "sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the terms and conditions of employment"; and
(5) a basis for holding the employer liable.
Reeves v. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc.
,
A. Knowledge
An employee can demonstrate that an employer knew about the harassment by showing that she complained to management about it.
Henson v. City of Dundee
,
An employee can also show that the company should have known about harassment that was so pervasive as to create an inference of constructive knowledge.
Furthermore, an employer is insulated from sexual-harassment liability based on constructive knowledge "when the employer has adopted an anti-discrimination policy that is comprehensive, well-known to employees, vigorously enforced, and provides alternate avenues of redress."
Farley v. Am. Cast Iron Pipe Co.
,
B. Action
To avoid liability for an employee's harassment, an employer must take prompt remedial action upon learning about the harassment.
Henson
,
The remaining issue, then, is whether the company's action was sufficiently prompt. Our cases have not established a bright-line rule for promptness, but we have held, for example, that an employer acted promptly enough when it agreed to fire the harasser if the victim complained about him again, and eventually did so.
Huddleston v. Roger Dean Chevrolet, Inc.
,
IV. CONCLUSION
Because the company took prompt remedial action against Jackson, no reasonable jury could have found the company liable for his sexual harassment of Wilcox. The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.
This appeal is captioned as "Felicia A. Wilcox" because her counsel have spelled her name that way in court documents, but we note that Wilcox spells her own name "Felecia."
Wilcox does not challenge on appeal the district court's ruling that Jackson was her coworker, not her supervisor.
It is undisputed that Wilcox received notice of her right to sue from the EEOC.
Our prior decision emphasized that Wilcox alleged that Jackson had hugged her on a daily basis over a period of months.
Wilcox
,
The fourth element, the severe or pervasive nature of the harassment, was a basis for our decision in Wilcox's earlier appeal,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Felicia A. WILCOX, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CORRECTIONS CORPORATION OF AMERICA, A.K.A. McRae Correctional Facility, Defendant-Appellee.
- Cited By
- 20 cases
- Status
- Published