That’s right: equal opportunity harassment.  An employer prevailed upon a lower state court in Minnesota to hold, among other things, that if you are an equal opportunity sexual harasser and subject both genders equally to sexually offensive and lascivious behavior, then there cannot be a hostile workplace.

Although the Court found that the complaining female employees in that case were “subjected to coarse sexual talk, gestures, and conduct they did not welcome,” they did not meet the “high threshold of actionable harm” because among other things, the harAssing supervisor’s sexual comments “were widespread throughout the employment setting and not merely directed at females (emphasis added).”

Suffice it to say, the Minnesota high court reversed, holding that the employees’ claims were for sexual harassment and “[did] require proof that the conduct was directed at the victims because of sex. .. [they] do not require [them] to prove discriminatory conduct.”    

To be fair, the high court’s decision with dissent is lengthy and deals with much more than this issue, but we thought that the employer’s defense of equal harassment was worthy of comment.