Summary Of Meritor Vs Vinsson

1. Provide a paragraph summarizing the key points of Meritor v. Vinson.

The Meritor v. Vinson case involved a bank vice president that harassed the plaintiff for several years (Walsh p303). In 1974 Michelle Vinson started working for Meritor Savings Bank as a teller trainer. Sidney Taylor was the supervisor who was also the vice president of the bank. Vinson received the promotion as a teller, head teller then the assistant branch manager in the next four years (FindLaw). On November 1, 1978 the Meritor Bank terminated Vinson for sick leave excessive use FindLaw). A case was filed against Taylor and the bank under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 stating that she was subjected to sexual harassment during her job. The harassment included the bank vice president Taylor following the plaintiff into the bathroom, fondling the plaintiff, then pressuring her to have sex with him(Walsh p303). During the trial, it was revealed that Vinson with the fear of losing her job had sexual intercourse with Taylor several times and he sexually harassed her and made suggestive remarks. The allegations were denied by Taylor and stated that the dispute was business related. The bank also revealed that they were not aware of Taylor’s behavior. The vice president also created what the court decided was an objective and “hostile environment”(Walsh p302).

Sundowner case is that in order for Oncale to claim that he was sexually harassed by his male coworkers under Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964 (FindLaw) Oncale would have to provide evidence that harassers were motivated by sexual desire; much like in an opposite-sex harassment claim(Walsh p297). At first the court originally decided that Oncale was not able to claim sexual harassment towards his co-workers at Sundowner. After the court decided that the plaintiff, Oncale appealed with the United States Court of Appeals. This led to the Supreme Court reversing the decision