In harassment case, Supreme Court ponders: Who qualifies as a supervisor?

Imagine this scene of workplace harassment, envisioned by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.:You really hate country music. The senior employee in your office picks the music everyone listens to.“And the senior employee says . . . ‘If you don’t date me, it’s going to be country music all day long,’ ” Roberts hypothesized.

Roberts and his Supreme Court colleagues on Monday were debating the standards for when a co-worker becomes more like a supervisor and thus opens the company up for damages under federal employment discrimination laws.

Some federal courts have said that only someone who can hire and fire people is a supervisor under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Other courts, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, have said that definition is too limiting and that the law should cover those who have the ability to control a co-worker’s daily work activities, regardless of their title or job description.

The distinction is important in employment discrimination law. If a supervisor is creating a hostile work environment or threatening to fire an employee, the employer can be held liable. But if a co-worker does so, the company is liable only if it knew about the treatment and did nothing to stop it.

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