Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 319: Spotlight on Torts (Part 3 – Strict and Vicarious Liability)
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 390: Listen and Learn -- Vicarious Liability (Torts)
Life With GDPR: Episode 41-Morrisons at the UK Supreme Court
Life With GDPR: Episode 22- Morrisons’ and vicarious liability
Potential for Vicarious Liability Under the Graves Amendment
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
On August 8, 2025, a Sixth Circuit panel in Bivens v. Zep, Inc. held that an employer can only be found liable under Title VII for harassment by a third party if the employer intended for the harassment to occur. This...more
Most employers understand their obligation to prevent discrimination and harassment at work, and the significant consequences that can come if such treatment is allowed to occur. But what if an employee alleges harassment not...more
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
In an explicit departure from EEOC guidance and other federal court caselaw, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently held that an employer can only be liable for a client/customer’s harassment of its...more
On August 1, 2024, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in O’Reggio v. Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities that the definition of “supervisor” set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in Vance v. Ball State University to...more
In a win for employers, the Connecticut Supreme Court defines “supervisor” narrowly for purposes of vicarious employer liability under Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act - Under Connecticut’s civil rights law, an...more
A “supervisor,” for purposes of a Connecticut state hostile work environment claim, is an employee who is empowered by an employer to take tangible employment actions, the Connecticut Supreme Court recently held in O’Reggio...more
On Oct. 2, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released proposed enforcement guidance on harassment in the workplace, and the proposed guidance has been receiving quite a bit of attention. This begs the...more
In its “Enforcement Guidance: Vicarious Liability for Unlawful Harassment by Supervisors,” the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) notes, “The standard for employer liability for hostile work environment...more
In a recent case involving multiple issues—Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, constructive discharge, and state law claims among them— the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers South Carolina employers)...more
This edition of Employment Flash summarizes key employment law issues related to COVID-19 as well as two seminal U.S. Supreme Court rulings that protect gay and transgender employees from discrimination, and clarify the...more
Making important law on the question of vicarious liability for punitive damages, the Fourth Circuit recently reversed awards of punitive damages under Title VII and North Carolina law in Ward v. AutoZoners....more
Under Title VII, employers are vicariously liable for incidents of sexual harassment engaged in by supervisors. In its Faragher and Ellerth decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged a limited defense to claims of...more
Key points: Corporations may be held vicariously liable for employee conduct under the Illinois Gender Violence Act. An Illinois appellate court justified the imposition of liability as a consequence of expanding...more
Stories of high-profile individuals in politics, media, entertainment and hospitality alleged to have engaged in sexual harassment, or worse, have been breaking at an unprecedented rate. In the wake of these allegations,...more
Recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Hylko v. U.S. Steel Corporation affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the employer in a lawsuit alleging same-sex sexual harassment...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the EEOC, the Sixth Circuit affirmed a U.S. District Court’s grant of an employer’s motion for summary judgment after finding that the harassing employee was not a...more
Victoria Zetwick, a county correctional officer, alleged that the county sheriff created a sexually hostile environment in violation of Title VII and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act by, among other things,...more
Restaurant franchisor Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (BWW) and Buffalo Wild Wings International Inc. were sued in Arizona's federal district court on charges of Title VII violations....more
Ellen Tabby, an African-American, has worked for Binge and Purr, a cat food manufacturing company, for several years....more
In a 5-4 decision that represents a major victory for employers, the U.S. Supreme Court held that an employee must have the power to take tangible employment actions against another worker in order to be considered a...more
In a favorable decision for employers, the U.S. Supreme Court in Vance v. Ball State University ruled that employers are strictly liable for harassment by a supervisor where the supervisor is empowered to take tangible...more
On Monday, we blogged about the first of two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions interpreting Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar. Today, we’ll...more
The Supreme Court ruled that a plaintiff asserting retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) must prove that the retaliation was the “but for” cause of the employer’s adverse action....more