Barnes v. Costle
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
561 F.2d 983 (1977)
- Written by Galina Abdel Aziz , JD
Facts
Paulette Barnes (plaintiff) was the administrative assistant to Douglas Costle (defendant) at the Environmental Protection Agency. Costle repeatedly asked Barnes to attend social events with him after hours, made sexual remarks to her, and suggested that she should cooperate with his sexual favors to improve her employment status. Barnes repeatedly refused Costle’s advances and told him that she wanted to have a strictly professional relationship. Costle began to harass Barnes and eventually fired Barnes. Barnes sued Costle in a federal district court for violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII). The court granted Costle’s motion for summary judgment, concluding that Title VII did not encompass Costle’s conduct. Barnes appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Robinson, J.)
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