Florida High Court Declines Review In Negligent Sexual Harassment Case
 
May 14, 2001
 

The Supreme Court of Florida has dismissed its review in the case of City of Miami Beach v. Guerra, which was discussed in the September 2000, issue of the Employment Law Letter. The decision from the appellate court below, consistent with a number of other state and federal rulings, rejected the proposition that a claim for negligence can be based on an employer’s failure to prevent workplace sexual harassment.

Thus, the basis for employer liability in sexual harassment cases remains the federal and Florida statutes containing provisions against workplace discrimination. A favorable ruling for the employee by the Florida high court may have made it possible for employees to assert claims arising from workplace sexual harassment without exhausting the administrative remedies set out in those, since the claims would have been based on negligence principles and not statutory provisions. In addition, such a ruling may have jeopardized the judicial standards that protect employers which: 1) promulgate effective harassment policies with effective complaint procedures; 2) disseminate information about those policies and procedures to employees; and 3) make good-faith efforts to enforce those policies.

For more information, please contact Eric Gabrielle at 1-888-688-8500 or at egabriel@hklaw.com.