Employment law; same-sex harassment

Article Abstract:

A year after the US Supreme Court's 1998 Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services ruling recognizing a cause of action for same-sex harassment case law has not greatly increased and does not appear to have made Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 a general civility code for the American workplace. Instead, lower courts have emphasized Oncale's reasoning that Title VII only creates a cause of action where members of the same sex received less favorable treatment than the other.

United States

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Smith Barney settlement makes waves; plan departs from industry standard and may be copied

Article Abstract:

Smith Barney settled a class action sexual harassment suit on Nov 18, 1997, by establishing a new, three-step dispute resolution process for all harassment or discrimination claims arising after May 20, 1993. Most such ssettlements have a claim fund to be divided between lawyers and the class. Smith Barney's agreement with the plan was a gamble because damages could run as high as $200 mil.

Smith Barney, Harris Upham and Company Inc.

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