NCJ Number
164276
Date Published
1996
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Two Federal statutes apply to sexual harassment in higher education, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Higher Education Amendments of 1972, and several significant and encouraging developments have occurred in recent years relative to Federal legislation and case law applicable to sexual harassment.
Abstract
In 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Harris v. Forklift Systems that a Title VII plaintiff claiming hostile or offensive work environment sexual harassment need not prove severe psychological damage to establish her right to recovery. Another U.S. Supreme Court case, Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools, established that a sexual harassment victim can recover monetary damages in a suit brought under Title IX. In addition, the Civil Rights Act of 1991 makes compensatory and punitive damages available to Title VII plaintiffs claiming intentional discrimination and accords them the right to a jury trial. Unresolved legal issues concern the need for a clearer definition of circumstances under which an institution can be held liable for coworker sexual harassment of employees and peer sexual harassment of students. Also, some first amendment issues have emerged in connection with sexual harassment claims where the offensive conduct is exclusively verbal or involves displays of pornographic materials in the workplace. The law under Title VII and Title IX is discussed in detail, with consideration paid to liability for sexual harassment of university faculty, administrators, and staff and for sexual harassment of students. Relief afforded to sexual harassment victims by State laws, the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment, and emerging sexual harassment issues under the first amendment are also examined. 64 notes