Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services

PLAINTIFF BURKE’S MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN OPPOSITION OF DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS INTRODUCTION Plaintiff, Deborah Burke, is opposing Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Burke asks that the Court deny the motion because her Complaint satisfies the standard set by Rule 8(a)(2) and the two prong test. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662-79(2009); Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544-63 (2007). Further, the conduct was sufficiently severe or pervasive to constitute a sexually hostile work environment because it meets the objective and subjective tests by looking at all the circumstances and Burke exhausted her administrative remedies because the retaliation claim falls under an exception fro administrative requirements. STATEMENT OF FACTS Burke was an employee of Strickland Watson, Pierce, P.C., a…

Some of the cases that have set legal precedence in the areas of retaliation and sexual harassment include the following: City of Los Angeles, Dept. of Water and Power v Manhart, (1978). In this case the supreme court ruled that in administration of company pension plan Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it illegal for an employer to discriminate against any individual because of an individual’s sex (Egan, 2010). Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson, (1986). In this case the court…