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Case Study: Joseph Oncale V. Sundowner Offshore Services

1169 Words5 Pages

In this case questioning workplace harassment in terms of sexual discrimination and its prevalence to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Joseph Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services distinguishes whether or not discrimination can occur within the same sex.
Joseph Oncale, a male, filed a complaint against his employer, Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc. The petitioner was working at one of respondent’s service stations and he was part of an eight men team. In the complaint, Mr. Oncale is alleging that he was sexually harassed by his co-workers John Lyons, Danny Pippen, and Brandon Johnson. This had happened on multiple occasions in their workplace by physical sexual assaults, sexual threats and humiliating sexual actions.
According to Oncale's testimony, a co-worker forced him to the ground while his supervisor took out his penis and placed it onto Oncale's head. The next day, a co-worker forced him to the ground while his supervisor took out his penis and placed it onto Oncale's arm. One of the team members actually threatened to rape the petitioner during these incidents.
When Oncale reported this to his supervisor, he was told that behavior like this is rather normal and that he should simply not take it offensively. No actions were taken; in fact, Mr. Oncale was humiliated even more. In the end, he had to …show more content…

Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc.,' the Supreme Court for the first time ever decided that sexual harassment of the same sex is actionable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.It was stated before that sexual harassment of women by men or vice versa is discrimination and thereby a violation of Title VII. This may include pressuring a subordinate to engage in sexual activity as a condition of employment, or subjecting an employee to a hostile and abusive work environment. Now, in the Oncale case, the Court held that Title VII may also be violated when men sexually harass men or women sexually harass

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