Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson

Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson
Argued March 25, 1986
Decided June 19, 1986
Full case nameMeritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Mechelle Vinson, et al.
Citations477 U.S. 57 (more)
106 S. Ct. 2399; 91 L. Ed. 2d 49
Case history
Prior
  • Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Granted; Vinson v. Taylor, Civil Action No. 78-1793., 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10676 (Feb. 26, 1980).
  • Reversed; Vinson v. Taylor753 F.2d 141 (D.C. Cir. 1985), reh'g en banc denied (May 14, 1985).
  • cert. granted, PSFS Sav. Bank, FSB v. Vinson, 474 U.S. 815 (1985).
Holding
A claim of "hostile environment" sexual harassment is a form of discrimination on the basis of sex that is actionable under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan Jr. · Byron White
Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
Lewis F. Powell Jr. · William Rehnquist
John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor
Case opinions
MajorityRehnquist, joined by Burger, White, Powell, Stevens, O'Connor
ConcurrenceStevens
ConcurrenceMarshall, joined by Brennan, Blackmun, Stevens
Laws applied
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57 (1986), is a US labor law case, where the United States Supreme Court, in a 9–0 decision, recognized sexual harassment as a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The case was the first of its kind to reach the Supreme Court and would redefine sexual harassment in the workplace.

It established the standards for analyzing whether conduct was unlawful and when an employer would be liable. The court, for the first time, made sexual harassment an illegal form of discrimination.