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Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) › Non-Employees

Foley & Lardner LLP

Employer Liability for Non-Employee Acts? Sixth Circuit Imposes High Standard and Rejects EEOC Guidance

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With its August 8, 2025, opinion in Bivens v. Zep, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected the EEOC’s guidelines (and split with several other circuits) to hold that the standard for holding an employer...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

If You See Something, Do You Fix It If It Isn’t Your Employee? 6th Circuit Applies Higher Standard to Non-Employee Harassment Case

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on

An employee tells you a customer just harassed them — what should you do? In Bivens v. Zep, Inc. the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals charts its own course in addressing employer liability for third-party harassment. The Equal...more

Littler

Sixth Circuit Limits Employer Liability for Harassment by Nonemployees

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On August 8, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled an employer is not liable for harassment of an employee by a third party unless the employer intended for the harassment to occur. This stark departure...more

Benesch

Sixth Circuit Raises Standard for Employer Liability in Customer Harassment Cases

Benesch on

When is an employer liable for the harassment of an employee by a non-employee? The Sixth Circuit answered this question on Friday in Bivens v. Zep, Inc., holding that Title VII imposes liability for customer (or other...more

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

The Lawyers' Lawyer Newsletter - Recent Developments in Risk Management - February 2020

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP on

Law Partnerships – Age Discrimination Against Law Firm Partners – Owners or Employees – Civil Rights Laws - Von Kaenel v. Armstrong Teasdale, LLP, 943 F. 3d 1139 (2019) - Risk Management Issue: Are law firm partners...more

McAfee & Taft

Employers may be liable for harassment by a non-employee

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“Claims of sexual harassment typically involve the behavior of fellow employees. But not always,” said a federal appeals court in Gardner v. CLC of Pascagoula, LLC. The case shows employers must take employee complaints of...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Handling Complaints of Harassment Made Against Non-Employees

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As we have previously noted, employers often wonder what to do when an employee makes a harassment complaint, but the alleged harasser is not another employee. The employer cannot simply do nothing, but it also generally does...more

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