No Sexual Harassment Claim Between Friends

Under California's Fair Employment and Housing Act ("FEHA"), employers generally are strictly liable for a supervisor's harassment, even where the employer is unaware of the supervisor's alleged bad actions. While this left many employers without much recourse in the event supervisors misbehaved, a recently published Court of Appeal decision offers some hope. In Atalla v. Rite Aid Corp., 2023 WL 2521909 (Cal. Ct. App. Feb. 24, 2023), the Court of Appeal established limits on the extent to which employers can be held responsible for conduct stemming from employees' personal relationships and after-hours conduct.

Hanin Atalla ("Atalla"), a pharmacist, sued Rite Aid alleging that Erik Lund ("Lund"), a Rite Aid district manager, had sexually harassed her, among other claims. Atalla's harassment claim stemmed from a series of late-night text messages containing a video of Lund engaging in a sexual act and a photo of his genitals. Rite Aid did not dispute that Lund