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The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Ninth Circuit”) recently ruled that employers can be held liable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) for sexual harassment that occurs on social media. Specifically, the Ninth Circuit found that Plaintiff Lindsay Okonowsky had a viable hostile work environment claim against her employer, the Bureau of Prisons, because the Bureau failed to take remedial measures against a co-worker who posted sexually explicit and threatening content on Instagram that targeted Okonowsky. See Okonowsky v. Garland, 109 F.4th 1166, 1171 (9th Cir. 2024).

Plaintiff worked as a psychologist in a federal prison. Her coworker, Lieutenant Steven Hellman, oversaw the safety of inmates and staff, including Okonowsky. After Okonowsky and Hellman had a disagreement on the job, Hellman created an Instagram account. Okonowsky soon discovered the account (which had hundreds of posts, many of which were “too graphic and disturbing” for the Ninth Circuit to republish) that targeted her, intimidated her, joked “about gang banging her, possibly shooting her, as well as myriad posts endorsing sexual harassment and/or violence toward women co-workers or women generally.” See Okonowsky, 109 F.4th at 1185.  Okonowsky flagged these posts and presented them to her Bureau supervisors who did nothing. The Ninth Circuit explained that, in these circumstances, an employee has a viable hostile work environment claim against its employer under Title VII.

This ruling does not require employers to monitor their employees’ social media accounts. However, employers cannot turn a blind eye to employees’ social media behavior that creates a hostile work environment. The Okonowsky decision makes it clear that conduct occurring outside the workplace can be actionable, “especially in light of the ubiquity of social media and the ready use of it to harass and bully both inside and outside the physical workplace.” See Okonowsky, 109 F.4th at 1171. This ruling emphasizes the importance of responding adequately to complaints when an employee’s social media conduct creates or may create a hostile work environment for coworkers. Employers must take these complaints seriously—especially where the inappropriate conduct is sexual in nature and directed at a coworker.

The attorneys at Farhang & Medcoff are ready and available to assist you in understanding rulings like Okonowsky and responding swiftly and appropriately to complaints of workplace harassment.

By Tyler Bugden