Publication Date
5-2006
Document Type
Casenote
Abstract
In Pennsylvania State Police v. Suders, the United States Supreme Court reached two conclusions. First, the Court wrote that an employee who resigns as a result of sexual harassment may assert a Title VII constructive discharge claim where the employee can show that the "working conditions became so intolerable that a reasonable person in the employee's position would have felt compelled to resign." Second, the Court held that an employer may assert the affirmative defense established in Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth and Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, ("Ellerth/Faragher") in a situation where an employee resigns due to a sexually hostile work environment, alleging constructive discharge, when a supervisor does not impose a tangible employment detriment, such as discharge, demotion, or undesirable reassignment. Suders is the Court's first decision approving a Title VII constructive discharge claim, but it also allows the employer an affirmative defense to constructive discharges brought about by the most common type of actionable workplace harassment, "hostile environment" discrimination.
Recommended Citation
Brooks, Letoyia C.
(2006)
"Pennsylvania State Police v. Suders,"
Mercer Law Review: Vol. 57:
No.
3, Article 14.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.mercer.edu/jour_mlr/vol57/iss3/14