Herberg

Mary Herberg, an administrative employee of defendant California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), was depicted in a vulgar and sexually oriented drawing prepared by two CalArts students. The drawing was displayed as part of a year-end exhibition of student art in CalArts’s main gallery for approximately 24 hours. Herberg, along with her daughter Bobette Heuer and her granddaughter Deborah Dutro (also CalArts employees), sued CalArts for sexual harassment under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, Government Code section 12940 et seq. (FEHA), alleging the display of the drawing created a hostile working environment. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of CalArts. We affirm the judgment of the trial court because the undisputed facts establish the alleged harassment was not sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the plaintiffs’ employment and create a hostile work environment.

Factual and Procedural Background

CalArts is a private, postsecondary educational institution offering degree programs in the fine and performing arts. In May 1999, Herberg was 82 years old and worked as a cashier in the accounting office at CalArts. Her…