Carter

Plaintiff and respondent Helga Carter worked as a nurse in a veterans residence facility administered by defendant and appellant, the Department of Veterans Affairs (the employer). Plaintiff sued the employer, alleging it was liable for sexual harassment on a hostile environment theory. The alleged hostile environment was created, not by a coemployee, but by one of the patient residents of the facility. The trial court held that an employer may be liable under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) (Gov. Code, § 12900 et seq.) for the harassing conduct of clients or customers, and gave judgment for plaintiff.

The employer appealed. The first time the matter was before us, we reversed the judgment, concluding, based upon our construction of the relevant provisions, that the FEHA did not impose liability upon an employer for sexual harassment perpetrated by a client or customer of the employer. The California Supreme Court granted review of that decision. Afterward, the Legislature amended Government Code section 12940, subdivision (j)(1), expressly providing that an employer may be responsible for sexual harassment by nonemployees. The amendment was…