Federal Judiciary

D. Md. Notes Split Re Whether Incidents that Occur Outside of the Office Contribute to a Hostile Work Environment

By A. Benjamin Spencer

The circuits are split on whether incidents that occur outside of the office contribute to a hostile work environment. See e.g., Gowesky v. Singing River Hosp. Sys., 321 F.3d 503, 510-11 (5th Cir.2003) (concluding that ?a harassment claim, to be cognizable, must affect a person's working environment? and excluding supervisors' comments over the phone and in writing during a period when plaintiff was not working); cf. Crowley v. L.L. Bean, Inc., 303 F.3d 387, 409 (1st Cir.2002) (permitting non-workplace conduct as evidence that the behavior was motivated by animus toward the protected class-in that case, women).

Full post as published by Split Circuits on March 26, 2008 (boomark / email).