Question

Tina and Tom are co-workers at Acme Corporation.As night custodians,they work together cleaning the Acme office building at night when the building is empty.Tom regularly makes sexual advances toward Tina that distress her.However,Tina has never complained about Tom's conduct to her supervisor,Mary,who only works during the day.Which of the following statements is most accurate? A) Acme Corporation is strictly liable for Tom's harassment of Tina. B) Acme Corporation may defend that it did not know about Tom's harassment of Tina. C) Acme Corporation is not liable because Tom is not Tina's supervisor. D) Acme Corporation is not liable because Tina voluntarily accepted the job of a night custodian.

Answer 1

Answer:

B) Acme Corporation may defend that it did not know about Tom's harassment of Tina

Explanation:

In this scenario where the two co-workers clean the office at night when the building was empty, Tina has never complained about Tom's misconduct to her supervisor. Also the supervisor does not work nights with Tom and Tina, she works in the morning.

Acme Corporation will use this a defence if sexual harassment charges are filed. The supervisor was not told of the sexual harassment and neither was she on the same shift with the workers. So the employer was not aware of what was happening.

Since the act was only known to her co-worker Tom it will be a case between her and Tom and not her employer (Acme Corporation).