Employer’s Conduct Did Not Constitute Title VII Sexual Harassment Or Adverse Action
Elaine Webb-Edwards, a former Orange County deputy sheriff, sued the county employer alleging sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation, all in violation of Title VII. The United States District Court granted judgment as a matter of law for the county on all claims. On appeal, the 11th Circuit affirmed, holding that:
(1) A male supervisor's regular comments about Webb-Edwards’ figure and good looks, e.g. that she was “hot” and should wear tighter clothes, were insufficiently hostile or abusive to serve as basis for her Title VII sexual harassment claim; there was no showing that the comments interfered with Webb-Edwards’ work performance, the supervisor was not physically threatening or humiliating, and the supervisor ceased the comments after Webb-Edwards requested that he stop;
(2) The male supervisor's taunting jest, directed at Webb-Edwards’s husband in her presence, did not rise to the level of hostile and abusive conduct sufficient to support Webb-Edwards’ Title VII claim of sexual harassment; the remark was unaccompanied by any other improper conduct, and did not alter the terms and conditions of Webb-Edwards’ job, especially since the employer, once it learned of the remark, immediately granted Webb-Edwards’ request for a transfer and required the supervisor to apologize;
(3) The fact the sheriff's office's decisionmaker denied Webb-Edwards’ requested transfer six months after her sexual harassment complaint, of which the decisionmaker was aware, was insufficient, by itself, to show the causality element of Webb-Edwards’ Title VII retaliation claim; the temporal proximity had to be very close, and six months was not very close; and
(4) The county sheriff's passing over Webb-Edwards for a requested transfer did not amount to an adverse employment action under Title VII, even though the sheriff deviated from candidates' rankings in making the selection, based on the transfer position's dangerousness; the sheriff chose to exclude less physically imposing and non-specially trained male deputies as well as females, Webb-Edwards’ eligibility for like positions was not affected, and there was no indication that the transfer position was more prestigious or preferable to Webb-Edwards’ current position.
Webb-Edwards v. Orange County
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals’ jurisdiction includes Alabama, Georgia and Florida.