Fredette v. BVP Management Associates

In ruling that same gender harassment is actionable under the Civil Rights Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit joined a number of other courts of appeals in expanding the protections afforded workers in the workplace. Shortly after the court's decision, the U.S. Supreme Court also ruled that same gender harassment is prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

By the early 1960s, two significant social transformations in the United States merged to produce Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Following World War II, an increased number of women began to enter the workplace. This increase in the number of women holding regular jobs coincided, in large part, with an increased awareness of, and desire to protect, the civil rights of a number of different groups, most notably racial minorities and women. These interests coalesced in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, Title VII of the act prohibits any discrimination by an employer against an employee on the basis of a person's gender.

As a general matter, Title VII safeguards against workplace harassment. The first type is known as quid pro quo harassment. Quid pro quo is a Latin phrase meaning "what for what," or "something for something." In a quid pro quo harassment situation, an employer or supervisor will condition some aspect of an employee's job on the employee's performance of some sexual act. For example, an employer who agrees to promote an employee if that employee has sexual relations with the employer is guilty of quid pro quo harassment. The second type of gender discrimination is known as "hostile work environment" discrimination. In this type of discrimination, the employer creates, or allows his other employees to create, a work environment that is hostile to an employee because of the employee's gender. For example, an employer who allows employees to display sexually explicit pictures of women may be guilty of creating a working environment which is hostile to female employees.