The Third Circuit has recently taken steps to resolve inconsistent precedent regarding the standard for pleading hostile work environment harassment. In Castleberry v. STI Group, decided in July, the Third Circuit held for the first time that a single, isolated offensive comment could give rise to liability for harassment. Although Supreme Court precedent has long provided for the possibility that a lone incident can give rise to a harassment claim, in practice, employers have been able to defend these claims with success on the basis that isolated actions are rarely, if ever, severe enough to alter the conditions of employment. Castleberry reminds employers that harassment claims based on single statements should not be presumed insignificant; instead, they should be evaluated in their full factual context.

BACKGROUND -

In Castleberry, two African-American laborers filed a complaint alleging race-based discrimination against the staffing agency that employed them (STI Group) and the client company where they worked (Chesapeake Energy Corporation). The laborers alleged that, despite their prior experience working on pipelines, they were only permitted to clean the pipelines at the worksite rather than work on them directly. On several occasions, someone had anonymously written “don’t be black on the right of way” on the sign-in sheet at their worksite. Later, while plaintiffs were working on a fence-removal project, a supervisor told plaintiff Atron Castleberry that he and his co-workers would be terminated if they “n—-rigged the fence.” This incident was apparently confirmed by seven co-workers.