The question that the Supreme Court will resolve is whether the supervisor liability rule: (i) applies to harassment by those whom the employer vests with authority to direct and oversee their victim’s daily work, or (ii) is limited to those harassers who have the power to “hire, fire, demote, promote, transfer, or discipline” their victim.
Plaintiff Vance brought a suit for hostile work environment and retaliation under Title VII. The district court dismissed all of her claims, granting summary judgment in favor of the university. Vance appealed the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Seventh Circuit held that a supervisor for purposes of imputing liability to the employer for violation of Title VII is only an individual with the authority to hire, fire, demote, promote, transfer, or discipline an employee, not persons who had authority to direct an employee’s daily activities but did not have authority to take formal employment actions in regards to the employee. Prior Supreme Court precedent establishes that employers are only liable for co-worker harassment under Title VII if the employer was negligent in discovering or remedying the harassment, and the university was not negligent in this case.