Hostile workplace is basis for ADA claim

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The Supreme Court disagreed and affirmed the trial court’s judgment. The Robel Court noted that "whether the antidiscrimination statute supports a disability-based hostile work environment claim is an issue of first impression in this state." Thus the Court looked to federal cases that interpreted analogous federal anti-discrimination statutes. Several federal courts interpreted language of Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act that resembled the WLAD and held that disability-based hostile-work-environment claims were legally permissible.

The Robel Court held that the WLAD was analogous to Title VII and to existing Washington law permitting hostile-work-environment claims based on sex discrimination. The Court expressly extended the WLAD to include such claims where the discrimination was based on the claimant’s disability.

To prove such a claim, a claimant must show that (1) she was disabled within the meaning of the WLAD, (2) the harassment was unwelcome, (3) the harassment resulted from the disability, (4) the harassment affected employment conditions, and (5) it was imputable to the employer.

Fred Meyer also appealed the trial court’s finding that it had committed intentional infliction of emotional distress, or the tort of outrage. The Court of Appeals concluded that proof of that claim was deficient, but the Supreme Court reversed. The test of such a claim is whether the defendant’s conduct was "beyond all possible bounds of decency" and "atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community." A trial court reasonably could find that this standard, while "admittedly very high," was met here, "in light of the severity and context of the conduct" by Robel’s co-workers.

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