Legal Question in Sexual Harassment in Massachusetts

Re: Reasonable women's standard or reasonable male standard

If you are on your own at the MCAD, they should explain this standard to you. If you have a lawyer, s/he should explain it to you. Generally speaking it means that the behavior would have to offend any other reasonable woman who experienced the same behavior.

Re: Reasonable women's standard or reasonable male standard

It means - Would a reasonable woman, subjected to the same conduct that the plaintiff was, have been offended by the conduct?

Re: Reasonable women's standard or reasonable male standard

The standard for assessing whether sexual harassment has occurred in Massachusetts is

judged by the following: would "a reasonable person in the plaintiff's position, considering all the circumstances," find the conduct complained of amounted to sexual harassment.

Where the victim of sexual harassment is a woman,

the measurement of whether sexual harassment

has occurred is measured from what a "reasonable

woman" would view it as being.

The standard thus has both a subjective and an

objective component. The jury must judge the case from the perspective of the individual plaintiff. But, the jury must only find for

the plaintiff if a reasonable person in her

position would find that the conduct rose

to the level of sexual harassment.

A detailed discussion of this standard

can be found in the decision

SUSAN MUZZY vs. CAHILLANE MOTORS, INC.

434 Mass. 409 (2001).

If you would like to discuss this at

greater length, please call my office.

I handle sexual harassment cases. In the

past two years, I have assisted several

clients to recover over $300,000 in sexual

and racial harassment cases.

Sincerely,

J. Whitfield Larrabee

4 Cypress Street, Suite 6

Brookline, MA 02445

(617) 566-3670