Rolfs v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., 971 F. Supp. 2d 197 (2013)

Citation: Rolfs v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., 971 F. Supp. 2d 197 (2013)
Parent Document: Rolfs v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., 971 F. Supp. 2d 197 (2013)
Jurisdiction: New Hampshire (state)
Effective Date: 2013-09-20
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/8728300/rolfs-v-home-depot-usa-inc/ ↗

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*223Typically, when sexual (or racial) and non-sexual (or nonracial) conduct are properly aggregated in the context of a hostile-work-environment claim, the discriminatory animus of the non-sexual or non-racial conduct is demonstrated by the fact that both forms of conduct are roughly contemporaneous and intertwined. See, e.g., DeGrace v. Rumsfeld, 614 F.2d 796, 800 (1st Cir.1980); Williams v. Gen. Motors Corp., 187 F.3d 553, 559 (6th Cir.1999). Here, however, Rolfs has produced no evidence that Kelly engaged in any sex-related conduct near enough in time to any of the non-sexual acts that Rolfs calls hostile to support a reasonable inference that those non-sexual acts were charged with discriminatory sexual animus. Rather, according to Rolfs’ own complaint, see doc. no. 5 ¶ 63, and all the evidence he has produced, the “Come on, Gene” incident marked a sharp line of demarcation between Kelly’s sexual conduct and his nonsexual conduct. That line of demarcation, in turn, is a significant part of the “totality of circumstances,” O’Rourke, 235 F.3d at 730, that courts must consider when evaluating hostile-work-environment claims, see id.

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