Same-Sex Sexual Harassment Under Title VII

Authors

Dale Carpenter, Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of LawFollow

Abstract

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits private employment discrimination on the basis of "sex." In 1986, the United States Supreme Court interpreted the "no sex discrimination" command of Title VII to forbid sexual harassment on the job. In the wake of Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, perhaps no single area of the law is in a greater state of flux than the question of whether sexual harassment by a member of one sex against a member of the same sex is actionable under Title VII.

This Article examines the state of federal law on the question of whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides a cause of action for same-sex sexual harassment. It presents and analyzes the reasoning of those courts that have addressed the issue, with a particular focus on recent developments in the law.

Publication Title

South Texas Law Review

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Title VII, Civil Rights Act, employment discrimination, same-sex sexual harassment, federal law, Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson

Recommended Citation

Dale Carpenter, Same-Sex Sexual Harassment under Title VII, 37 S. Tex. L. Rev. 699 (1996)