California Supreme Court Holds Employees Can Sue for Sexual Harassment Based on Extreme Sexual Favoritism

On July 18, 2005, the California Supreme Court permitted two female prison employees to maintain a sexual harassment suit alleging that the prison warden created a hostile environment by giving unwarranted favoritism to his female lovers. Miller v. Department of Corrections , No. S114097, 2005 WL 1661190 (Cal. 2005). The striking feature of this case is that the plaintiffs have viable sexual harassment claims even though no one made a sexual advance to them or directed any harassment at them. The Miller decision holds that an actionable sexually hostile workplace environment arises where pervasive sexual favoritism conveys the message that women are viewed as “sexual playthings” or that the way to get ahead is to have sex with the boss.