Beth Ann Faragher v. City of Boca Raton

Decided June 26, 1998. David Hackett Souter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 97-282 · 524 U.S. 775 (1998) · Cited 6,226 times

Holding

An employer is vicariously liable for actionable discrimination caused by a supervisor, but subject to an affirmative defense looking to the reasonableness of the employer’s conduct as well as that of the plaintiff victim.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson · 477 U.S. 57 (1986)
• Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc. · 510 U.S. 17 (1993)
• Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc. · 523 U.S. 75 (1998)
• Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · 422 U.S. 405 (1975)
• Patterson v. McLean Credit Union · 491 U.S. 164 (1989)
• Keene Corp. v. United States · 508 U.S. 200 (1993)
• Ford Motor Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 458 U.S. 219 (1982)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Vance v. Ball State Univ. · 570 U.S. 421 (2013)
• Pennsylvania State Police v. Suders · 542 U.S. 129 (2004)
• Crawford v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson Cty. · 555 U.S. 271 (2009)
• Clark County School District v. Breeden · 532 U.S. 268 (2001)
• Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. White · 548 U.S. 53 (2006)
• Kolstad v. American Dental Assn. · 527 U.S. 526 (1999)
• National Railroad Passenger Corporation v. Morgan · 536 U.S. 101 (2002)
• Davis Ex Rel. LaShonda D. v. Monroe County Board of Education · 526 U.S. 629 (1999)
• Staub v. Proctor Hospital · 562 U.S. 411 (2011)
• Ricci v. DeStefano · 557 U.S. 557 (2009)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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David Hackett Souter’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1998). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).