No Harassment, Then No Failure To Prevent Harassment

In California, a masseuse said she had suffered unwelcome conduct from customers, but a jury found the conduct wasn’t enough to impose a liability finding on her employer for either a sexual harassment or discrimination claim. The jury did, however, find the employer liable for failing to prevent harassment and discrimination. A California appeals court “applying precedent and common sense,” according to Seyfarth Shaw attorneys in a client alert, reversed, holding that if there is no actionable harassment or discrimination, there can be no liability for failure to prevent it. This case, write the Seyfarth attorneys, is a reminder that employers need good policies and procedures, but it’s also a reminder that “employer efforts to prevent unlawful harassment and discrimination can succeed in avoiding liability even if those efforts are not a complete success.”