“Employees often are surprised to learn that anti-harassment laws ban a rather narrow range of inappropriate conduct,” said Kathryn Brown, an attorney with Duane Morris in Philadelphia.
To impose liability on an employer for a hostile work environment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Brown noted, an employee must show that they experienced conduct that:
1) Was unwelcome.
2) Was based on the employee’s protected characteristic.
3) Was sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the employee’s terms and conditions of employment and create an abusive work environment.
4) Is imputable to the employer.
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