NCJ Number
166696
Journal
Federal Lawyer Volume: 43 Issue: 5 Dated: (June 1996) Pages: 29-34
Date Published
1996
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The issue of whether individual supervisors can be held personally liable for violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and similar statutes has proven surprisingly difficult for Federal courts to resolve.
Abstract
Title VII imposes liability on employers who discriminate against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, or religion. Title VII defines employer as a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has 15 or more employees and as any agent of such a person. Other Federal statutes, including the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act, contain similar definitions. The main difficulty in resolving the issue of individual liability concerns the meaning of agent. Most courts interpret agent as not creating individual liability but rather as a simple expression of respondeat superior. Discriminatory actions taken by an employer's agent create liability for the employer entity. A few courts, however, hold that the literal language of the statute means supervisory personnel and other agents of the employer are statutory employers who may be held individually liable for discriminatory acts. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 raises concerns of corporate personnel dealing with leaves of absence; the return to work process; and the termination of sick, disabled, and injured workers. Even when interpreting Title VII and other statutes under similar factual settings, judges can reach diametrically opposite conclusions as to the particular statute's intended meaning. Until the U.S. Supreme Court resolves the conflict among courts, the outcome in any case largely depends on the jurisdiction in which the case is pending. 20 endnotes