Board of Directors, Green Hills Country Club v. Illinois Human Rights Commission

In Board of Directors, Green Hills Country Club v. Illinois Human Rights Commission (Ill.App.Ct. 1987) 162 Ill. App. 3d 216, 514 N.E.2d 1227, 113 Ill. Dec. 216, the court construed a state statute virtually identical to California provisions, which made it a civil rights violation for an employer, employee or agent of any employer to engage in sexual harassment: "'Provided that an employer shall be responsible for sexual harassment of the employer's employees by nonemployees or nonmanagerial or nonsupervisory employees only if the employer becomes aware of the conduct and fails to take reasonable corrective measures.'" (Id. at p. 1230.) The court ruled this language imposed strict liability on employers "for sexual harassment of their employees by supervisor personnel regardless of whether the employer knew of such conduct . . . ." (Id. at pp. 1230-1231; See also Geise v. Phoenix Company of Chicago, Inc. (Ill. 1994) 159 Ill. 2d 507, 639 N.E.2d 1273, 1277, 203 Ill. Dec. 454.) Consequently, a later state court decision concluded that the Burlington/Faragher defense was inapplicable to Illinois claims. "Unlike Title VII, under which employers are not always automatically liable for sexual harassment, in Illinois the state law imposes strict liability on the employer regardless of whether the employer knew of the offending conduct." ( Webb v. Lustig (Ill.Ct.App. 1998) 298 Ill. App. 3d 695, 700 N.E.2d 220, 227, 233 Ill. Dec. 119.)