Seventh Circuit Finds No Title VII Liability Due to Limited Authority of Supervisor

In a recent decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit concluded that an employee's Title VII claim failed because he failed to establish that his supervisor had authority to directly affect his terms and conditions of employment. Andonissamy v. Hewlett-Packard Co., No. 07-2387, 11/7/08. The employee alleged that his supervisor verbally harassed him because of his South Asian origin, thereby creating a hostile work environment.

Even assuming that the supervisor's remarks rose to the level of actionable harassment, the court determined that the employee failed to establish a basis for employer liability. Under Title VII, an employer may be vicariously liable for a hostile work environment created by a supervisor. However, for purposes of Title VII, a supervisor is not simply a person who possesses authority to oversee an employee's job performance. Rather, a supervisor is an individual who has the power to directly affect the terms and conditions of an employee's employment. According to the court, to make such a showing, an employee must prove that the alleged supervisor can hire, fire, promote, demote, discipline or transfer employees. In this case, the accused was a supervisor in the "colloquial" sense of the word, and lacked the necessary authority to affect his subordinates' terms and conditions of employment.

This case provides helpful guidance to employers in determining their liability under Title VII, and further defines what it means to be a supervisor for purposes of imposing vicarious liability under that statute.