Lindsey Tofsrud v. John Potter

MEMORANDUM

Lindsey Tofsrud appeals the district court’s order granting summary judgment to her employer, John Potter, Postmaster General of the United States, on Tofsrud’s Title VII hostile work environment claim. The district court concluded Tofsrud had exhausted her administrative remedies. It also concluded she had not established a prima facie claim of a hostile work environment. We may affirm on any ground supported by the record. See Townsend v. Univ. of Alaska, 543 F.3d 478, 485 (9th Cir.2008).

With respect to exhaustion, Tofsrud initiated contact with an E.E.O.C. counselor within 45 days of the triggering event for the constructive discharge claim she alleged in the district court. Although she has abandoned that claim on appeal, it is closely related to her hostile work environment claim. The district court correctly ruled that Tofsrud exhausted her administrative remedies. See Leong v. Potter, 347 F.3d 1117, 1122 (9th Cir.2003); 29 C.F.R. § 1614.105 (a).

A Title VII plaintiff establishes a prima facie hostile work environment claim by showing verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, that was unwelcome, and that was sufficiently severe or pervasive so as to alter…