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Discrimination & Employment Laws
Arthur Crawford
ETH/321
12/19/2016
John Pierce
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Discrimination & Employment Laws
The sidebar of the vulgar workplace language and sexual harassment case discusses if it
is sexual harassment in a workplace if vulgar language is used but not directed at a specific
person. Ingrid Reeves, the plaintiff, worked at C.H. Robinson in sales. Reeves said she had to
endure listening to her male counterparts call other women names such as wh**e, b**ch, and
c**t on a daily basis. She also claimed that they had repeated vulgar discussions about female
body parts as well as pornographic images of women in the office. Reeves went to her
colleagues, her supervisor, as well as her top company executive about the issue. Unfortunately,
the conduct was accepted and tolerated by them. So, the question is can vulgar language be
actionable as sexual harassment under Title VII, even if it is not specifically directed at an
individual? According the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, it is actionable as sexual harassment
