Williams v. Herron’s Empirical Analysis
687 F.3d 971 · 2012
Citation profile
3 federal appellate · 7 district ·
Appellate journey
Relationships
Applies 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Civil Rights Act of 1871 / Section 1983 (Ku Klux Klan Act)) · 42 U.S.C. § 2000E (§ 701 of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964)
Relies on Anderson v. Creighton · Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc. · Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson · Scott v. Harris · Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc.
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“(1) she was a member of a protected group; (2) she was subject to unwelcome harassment; (3) the harassment was based on sex; (4) that it affected a term, condition, or privilege of employment; and (5) that her employer knew or should have known of the harassment and failed to take appropriate remedial action.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“Duncan cannot show that Herron’s actions amounted to actionable harm that affected her employment. She chose not to apply for a promotion because she feared damage to her reputation [because it would insinuate she had done something inappropriate with Herron to get the promotion].... Her choice not to apply does not prove Herron’s harassment was objectively severe, extreme or intimidating to alter a term, condition, or privilege of her employment. Although Herron’s conduct was vile and inappropriate, it did not rise to the level of actionable hostile-work-environment sexual harassment as to her. Herron’s conduct was not physically threatening or humiliating to Duncan. It did not unreasonably interfere with her work performance.... As a matter of law, Duncan did not show a sexually harassing hostile environment sufficiently severe or pervasive so as to alter the conditions of her employment, a failure that dooms Duncan’s hostile work environment claim.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.