Wallace
Wallace v. San Joaquin County
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
Kendra Wallace sued the County of San Joaquin, claiming that the County was liable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, because (1) Wallace’s supervisor sexually harassed her and (2) the County retaliated against Wallace when she filed a complaint about her supervisor’s actions. Wallace appeals the district court’s summary judgment dismissal of these claims.
An employer may be liable for the sex discrimination committed by a supervising employee. See Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775, 807 , 118 S.Ct. 2275 , 141 L.Ed.2d 662 (1998). But an employer may assert an affirmative defense in some circumstances. Id. The affirmative defense is available so long as no “tangible employment action” was taken against the employee. Id.
There was none here. Wallace claims that she was “constructively discharged” because she felt compelled to resign due to the County’s alleged refusal to transfer her to a different job. 1 An employee is constructively discharged if “a reasonable person in [the employee’s] position would have felt that [the employee] was forced to quit because of intolerable and discriminatory working conditions.” Steiner v.…