Whether a false rumor that a female employee received a promotion because she slept with a supervisor is 'based on sex' under Title VII

QUESTION PRESENTED Title VII provides that, "It is an unlawful employment practice to discharge or otherwise to discriminate against an employee with respect to conditions of employment, because of such individual’s sex or to limit, segregate, or classify an employee in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive the employee of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect the employee’s status as an employee, because of such employee’s sex." 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a). An employee claiming a severe or pervasive hostile work environment because of her sex can obtain relief under Title VII. See Harris v. Forklift Sys., Inc., 510 U.S. 17, 21 (1993). To state a claim under Title VII for a hostile work environment because of sex, the plaintiff must allege workplace harassment that (1) was “unwelcome”; (2) was based on the employee’s sex; (3) was “sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment and create an abusive atmosphere”; and (4) was, on some basis, imputable to the employer. See, e.g Meritor Sav. Bank, FSB v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57 (1986); Bass v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., 324 F.3d 761, 765 (4th Cir. 2003); see also EEOC v. Sunbelt Rentals, Inc., 521 F.3d 306, 313-14 (4th Cir. 2008). This case concerns an employee who was the subject of a false rumor that she received a promotion because she slept with a supervisor. Her Complaint alleges that the rumor originated due to a coworker's jealousy. Other than the sexual content of the rumor, i] there is no allegation that the rumor arose due to gender or sex-based animus beyond The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals belief that such rumors had a historical negative impact on women in the workplace. The central question presented in this case is whether a false rumor, alleged to have originated out of jealousy, that a female employee received a promotion because she slept with a higher-ranking employee is “based on sex”, such that it can give rise to liability under Title VII.