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18 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 795 (1992)
The Reasonable Woman Standard: Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

handle is hein.journals/wmitch18 and id is 811 raw text is: THE REASONABLE WOMAN STANDARD: PREVENTING SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE I. INTRODUCTION ......................................... 795 II. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE .............................. 797 A. Sexual Harassment as a Cause of Action ................ 797 1. Title VII ....................................... 797 2. Creation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ..................................... 798 3. Elements of a Sexual Harassment Claim ............. 802 4. Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson ................ 804 B. Development of the Reasonable Woman Standard ........ 805 C. Applications of the Reasonable Woman Standard in Sexual Harassment Actions .................................. 809 1. Rabidue v. Osceola Refining Co ................ 810 2. Yates v. Avco Corp ............................ 811 3. Ellison v. Brady ............................... 812 4. Robinson v. Jacksonville Shipyards, Inc ......... 815 C. Sexual Harassment Cases in the Eighth Circuit .......... 816 1. Moylan v. Maries County ...................... 816 2. Hall v. Gus Construction Co ................... 817 3. Jensen v. Eveleth Taconite Co .................. 818 III. THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT SHOULD ADOPT THE REASONABLE W OMAN STANDARD ..................................... 818 A. The Concept of the Reasonable Woman................. 819 B. The Reasonable Person Standard Is No Longer Adequate.. 820 C. The Reasonable Woman Standard Would Create Greater Equality in the Workplace ............................ 824 IV. CONCLUSION ............................................... 827 I. INTRODUCTION Women are entering the workplace in ever increasing numbers.I As a result of increased interaction among men and women in the workplace, the number of sexual harassment claims has risen dra- matically.2 Women are most often the targets of sexual harassment.3 One primary reason for the pervasiveness of sexual harassment in the workplace is that men regard conduct, ranging from sexual innu- 1. Ellen Frankel Paul, Sexual Harassment as Sex Discrimination: A Defective Paradigm, 8 YALE L. & POL'Y REV. 333, 333 (1990). 2. See generally ALBA CONTE, SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE: LAW AND PRACTICE 3-4 (1991). The table below illustrates the sexual harassment charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) since 1980:

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