Corporations Beware: The Eighth Circuit Announces New Criteria for Parent Corporation Liability and Constructive Notice of Harassment

Authors

Lawrence S. Hall

Abstract

In Sandoval v. American Building Maintenance Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit announced two very important principles affecting corporations in regard to harassment liability. First, in looking at parent-subsidiary corporate relationships, the court re-established a four-factor test, which was vacated by the Eighth Circuit in 2007, that determines whether a parent corporation can be held liable for the acts of its subsidiaries. Second, when looking at a hostile work environment claim, the Eighth Circuit held that events involving harassment at multiple locations of which the defendant corporation was aware can be admitted to show that harassment was sufficiently severe and pervasive to put the company on constructive notice of the harassment.

Recommended Citation

Lawrence S. Hall, Corporations Beware: The Eighth Circuit Announces New Criteria for Parent Corporation Liability and Constructive Notice of Harassment, 75 Mo. L. Rev. (2010)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr/vol75/iss2/9