Tangible employment action - sustany/dvg GitHub Wiki

A tangible employment action constitutes a significant change in employment status, such as hiring, firing, failure to promote, reassignment with significantly different responsibility, or a decision causing a significant change in benefits. A tangible employment action is an element of a Title VII action, which may hold an employer liable, or vicariously liable for the actions of a supervisor.��

For example, the Supreme Court has held that a denial of a raise may constitute a tangible employment action. Other courts have also found the following situations to constitute a tangible (adverse) employment action:

• Loss of benefits specifically negotiated for in an employment contract, such as a private office;
• Threats of discharge by a supervisor to coerce employees to comply with the supervisor's demand; and
• Withholding a promotion or benefits for promotion for refusing to accept sexual advances from a supervisor.

On the other hand, conditions such as reassignment to another office or downgraded job performance evaluations, by themselves, do not constitute a tangible employment action.�

In the specific instance where an employee is alleging sexual harassment under Title VII, if no tangible employment action is found to be taken against the employee, then the employer-defendant may raise an affirmative defense to the action by showing that: (1) it exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct the harassment; and (2) the employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventative or corrective opportunities or otherwise failed to avoid harm.�

Lastly, constructive discharge by a supervisor can also qualify as a tangible employment action for which an employer is strictly liable under Title VII. However, a plaintiff is required to prove: (1) the elements of constructive discharge, and (2) that an official act of the employer underlies the constructive discharge.�