STRANGE BEDFELLOWS: THE FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT AND WORKPLACE INVESTIGATIONS.

HARASSMENT laws; PUBLIC administration; CONSUMERS; BURLINGTON Industries Inc. v. Ellerth (Supreme Court case); FARAGHER v. City of Boca Raton (Supreme Court case)

The article examines the relationship between a public policy directive aimed to eliminate workplace harassment and a legislation to protect the privacy rights of consumers. The companion cases of Burlington Industries v. Ellerth and Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, both decided by the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the same issue. The Supreme Court clarified that employers are vicariously liable for the unlawful harassment perpetrated by supervisors. The Supreme Court's rulings in Ellerth and Faragher provide employers with incentives for exercising reasonable care in preventing or correcting instances of workplace harassment. In response to these decisions, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) promulgated revised enforcement guidelines addressing an employer's vicarious liability for unlawful harassment by its supervisors. The guidelines outline what employers should do to demonstrate the exercise of reasonable care. The EEOC guidelines are emphatic that any complaint, regardless of the manner in which the employer learns of possible impropriety, must be investigated.