In T.D.H. v. Kazi Foods of New Jersey, Inc., Civil No. 5:23-cv-00634-JMG, 2023 WL 4567722 (E.D.Pa. July 17, 2023), the court, inter alia, held that plaintiff sufficiently alleged a hostile work environment sexual harassment claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
From the decision:
To state a Title VII claim for hostile work environment, a Plaintiff must allege: (1) intentional discrimination because of her race or sex; (2) the discrimination is severe or pervasive; (3) the discrimination detrimentally affected her; (4) the discrimination would detrimentally affect a reasonable person in like circumstances; and (5) the existence of respondeat superior liability. Less severe isolated incidents which would not themselves rise to the level of discrimination may, when taken together as part of the overall scenario, evidence discriminatory animus, and one severe incident may be enough to create a hostile work environment.
Plaintiff’s Complaint alleges she was “repeatedly sexually harassed and battered in the workplace,” indeed Plaintiff’s Complaint pleads numerous instances of alleged sexual harassment and assault: that her supervisor, Defendant Rivera, asked Plaintiff her preferred pronouns in front of customers and employees despite having allegedly already known them, that Defendant Santana and other employees called Plaintiff a transvestite, that her other supervisor, Defendant Garcia, made repeated sexual remarks directed toward Plaintiff, touched Plaintiff’s breasts, pushed her own breasts against Plaintiff’s body, and asked to search Plaintiff’s phone for naked photographs.
The Complaint alleges respondeat superior liability exists, as much of the aforementioned alleged conduct was perpetrated by Kazi Foods’ supervisors, such as Defendants Rivera, Garcia, and Santana. Defendants claim that Plaintiff fails to state a claim for hostile work environment because the Complaint does not plead allegations of conduct that “rise above ‘simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents.’ ” Motion to Dismiss at pg. 21 of 24 (quoting Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775, 778 (1998)). Defendants further contend that “[a]part from an appropriate question related to her preferred pronouns, Plaintiff fails to identify any comments made directly to her.” Id. The Court disagrees, and finds that Plaintiff’s Complaint sufficiently pleads allegations of conduct that rises above simple teasing or offhand comments. The Complaint alleges Plaintiff was called a transvestite, that Defendant Garcia repeatedly told Plaintiff she was “so sexy,” had “a very sexy voice,” had “a fat ass,” that her rear was “soft,” asked Plaintiff “how can you handle anal sex?,” intentionally pressed her breasts against Plaintiff’s body, touched Plaintiff’s breasts and commented “I thought you didn’t have any,” and even took Plaintiff’s phone and “started looking through it for ‘naked pictures of you and your penis.’ ” This alleged conduct goes far beyond the occasional offhand comment, and Plaintiff sufficiently alleges a hostile work environment.
[Cleaned up.]
The court concluded that “[d]efendant will have the opportunity through discovery, and as litigation progresses, to challenge the truth of these allegations” but that “at the motion to dismiss stage, the Court must find that Plaintiff successfully alleges a hostile work environment claim against Defendant Kazi Foods.”