A company that allowed employees to play loud rap music with sexist lyrics that denigrate women as “hoss” and “bitch” was offensive to men as well as men. Even if you do, you could be sued for sex discrimination. As for the woman, a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday.
A lawsuit filed by eight former S&S Activewear employees in Reno, seven of whom are women, was dismissed by Chief U.S. District Judge Miranda Dou, holding that offensive behavior against both sexes does not constitute sex discrimination. showed that. The San Francisco Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed and reopened the case.
Judge M. Margaret McCune, citing a court ruling in a 2001 case, ruled 3 to 0 that “an employer’s ‘status as a so-called ‘equal opportunity harasser’ provides an avenue of liability.” I will not.” President Bill Clinton’s appointee, Judge McCune, was joined by two of the most conservative justices, Judges Jay Byvey and Judge Patrick Bumathei, appointed by Presidents George W. Bush and President Donald Trump respectively. .
The 700,000-square-foot warehouse had hundreds of employees, about half of whom were women. The lawsuit alleges that S&S allowed its employees to install large commercial-grade speakers in five locations and play them loud enough to drown out any background noise.
According to the court, the music included words like “hoss” and “bitch”, as well as songs like “Blowjob Betty” by rapper Too Short, which contained “beautifying” lyrics. It is said that[d] Prostitutes,” and Eminem’s “Stan,” which depicts a pregnant woman being stuffed into the trunk of a car and drowned.
“Employees would put the speakers on forklifts and drive them around the warehouse, making it even more difficult to anticipate, let alone avoid, the arrival of music,” McCune wrote. “The music triggered abusive behavior by male employees, frequently miming sexually explicit gestures, shouting obscene language, making sexually explicit remarks, and publicly displaying pornographic videos. They are said to have shared
S&S had been receiving complaints almost daily for about two years, according to the complaint, but management defended the music as “motivating,” only when the company was nearly sued in 2020. said to have stopped.
Du, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, said in December 2021 that plaintiffs allege that the company’s conduct was “not directed at employees of any gender” and was directed equally at all employees. He dismissed the allegations of discrimination.
But the Court of Appeals said harassment “need not be directly targeted to a particular plaintiff in order to pollute the workplace.”
“Whether sung, yelled, whispered, played on loudspeakers, or broadcast face-to-face, sexist adjectives can be offensive and turn the workplace into a hostile environment,” McCune said. writes.
In her filing supporting the lawsuit, she cited the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s allegations, saying, “Exposing employees to misogynistic and sexually Even if both women are exposed to the music, it can still be discrimination on the grounds of sex.” And men find its content offensive. “
Former employee attorney Mark Morsart welcomed the ruling.
“All lawyers in the country who handle employment cases should remember to ask if there is dirty music playing in the workplace,” he said in an email. “If such music is played loudly and frequently in front of management and employees are offended by it, liability can easily be held.”
Lawyers for S&S were not immediately available for comment.
Contact Bob Egelko: begelko@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @BobEgelko
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