With some businesses allowing workers to play music while they work, sometimes that music can disturb other staff, particularly if the songs have vulgar lyrics.
Now the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court has held that playing music with tawdry lyrics that make some employees uncomfortable can be considered harassment in the workplace under Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Code. For employers that allow their staff to play music that others can hear (i.e., not using earbuds or headphones), the case is a cautionary tale and a reminder that they need to set limits on what they can play.
In the case in question, Sharp vs. S&S Activewear, eight employees (including one male staffer) at a warehouse filed a hostile work environment claim against their employer under Title VII.
They claimed that music with sexually graphic and misogynistic lyrics like Too $hort’s “B*job Betty” and Eminem’s “Stan” was blared in the warehouse.
The music, “blasted from commercial-strength speakers” that were mounted on forklifts, prompted male employees to make sexually graphic gestures, shout obscenities, make sexually explicit comments and share porn videos with one another, according to the lawsuit.
What the court said
The employer claimed that the music could not constitute sexual harassment because it was offensive to both men and women and no specific gender or group of people was targeted. The district court agreed with this so-called “equal opportunity harasser” argument and ruled in the employer’s favor.
The Ninth Circuit Court reversed the decision, however, saying that playing the kind of music in question could foster a hostile or abusive environment and could be considered “music as harassment.”
The court added that an employer claiming that its actions discriminate against both men and women is not a defense, noting that lyrics replete with misogynistic slurs exposes female employees to disadvantages in the workplace. At the same time, because the harassment was not targeted, both male and female employees could file claims for sexual harassment.
Employer takeaway
If you allow staff to play music while they work, you may want to consider drawing up some rules about what can be played in the workplace so that employees do not feel offended, threatened or uncomfortable.
Disgusting language like that which allegedly permeated the warehouse in question, should not be tolerated in the workplace to ensure a harmonious workplace.
Besides banning music with sexually explicit or misogynistic lyrics, you should do the same for other music that perhaps degrades certain ethnicities, nationalities and races with slurs or calls for violence or harm against them.
And remember, even if you don’t have any women in the workplace, a man may also bring suit for “harassment by music.”
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