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My supervisor is sexually harassing me at work. Is my employer liable in Massachusetts?

If one of your employer’s supervisors sexually harasses you then, yes, under Massachusetts law, your employer is liable for your supervisor’s conduct.

Your employer’s liability exists even if your employer did not know that you were being sexually harassed by your supervisor of if your employer took steps to stop the sexual harassment after you reported it.  This area of Massachusetts sexual harassment law is set forth at Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 151B, Section 16A, which makes is unlawful for an employer, personally or through its agents, to sexually harass any employee in the workplace in Massachusetts.

The supervisor in question does not need not be your direct supervisor for liability to attach to you employer.  What matters most is whether your employer has conferred some supervisory or management authority to the supervisor who is sexually harassing you.  If your supervisor is sexually harassing you, Massachusetts law empowers you to hold your employer responsible for it.

In a lead case in this area, College-Town, Division of Interco, Inc. v. Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, 400 Mass. 156, 165 (1987), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court noted that “although coworkers or even outsiders may also be capable of creating a sexually harassing work environment, it is the authority conferred upon a supervisor by the employer that makes the supervisor particularly able to force subordinates to submit to sexual harassment.”  Massachusetts courts, and the legislature, have recognized that power differentials in the workplace often result in predatory conduct perpetrated by supervisors upon unwilling and unconsenting subordinates and employees.

Harriman Law pursues claims for victims of supervisory sexual harassment throughout Massachusetts.  If you have been sexually harassed by your supervisor in Massachusetts and need a Boston sexual harassment lawyer to help you pursue a claim, please contact Harriman Law for a free consultation today.