Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Sunbelt Rentals, Inc.

PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY 

COMMISSION,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.  No. 07-1123

SUNBELT RENTALS, INC.,

Defendant-Appellee.



Appeal from the United States District Court

for the District of Maryland, at Greenbelt.

Peter J. Messitte, District Judge.

(8:04-cv-02978-PJM)

Argued: January 30, 2008

Decided: March 31, 2008

Before WILKINSON and GREGORY, Circuit Judges, and

Patrick Michael DUFFY, United States District Judge for the

District of South Carolina, sitting by designation.

Reversed and remanded by published opinion. Judge Wilkinson wrote

the opinion, in which Judge Gregory and Judge Duffy joined.

COUNSEL

ARGUED: Daniel Travis Vail, U.S. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT

OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Washington, D.C., for Appellant.

Patricia J. Hill, SMITH, GAMBRELL & RUSSELL, L.L.P., Jackson-

ville, Florida, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Ronald S. Cooper, General

2 EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS

Counsel, Carolyn L. Wheeler, Acting Associate General Counsel,

Lorraine C. Davis, Assistant General Counsel, U.S. EQUAL

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Washington,

D.C., for Appellant. Colin A. Thakkar, SMITH, GAMBRELL &

RUSSELL, L.L.P., Jacksonville, Florida, for Appellee.

OPINION

WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:

This case arises from a Title VII action brought by the United

States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of

Clinton Ingram, a Muslim American, against Sunbelt Rentals, Inc.

The EEOC alleges that Ingram, while working at Sunbelt, was sub-

jected to a religiously hostile work environment in violation of Title

VII. The district court granted summary judgment for Sunbelt and

dismissed the claim.

Title VII extends the promise that no one should be subject to a

discriminatorily hostile work environment. In the wake of September

11th, some Muslim Americans, completely innocent of any wrongdo-

ing, became targets of gross misapprehensions and overbroad

assumptions about their religious beliefs. But the event that shook the

foundations of our buildings did not shake the premise of our found-

ing — that here, in America, there is no heretical faith. Because the

evidence, if proven, indicates that Ingram suffered severe and perva-

sive religious harassment in violation of Title VII, we reverse the dis-

trict court’s grant of summary judgment and remand with directions

that this case proceed to trial.

I.

A.

Sunbelt is a company that rents and sells construction equipment.

In October 2001, a month after the September 11th attacks, it hired

Ingram to work at its Gaithersburg, Maryland store. After initially

working as a truck driver, Ingram was later promoted to the position

EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS 3

of rental manager, a position he held until his termination in February

2003. As a rental manager, Ingram primarily worked at a rental

counter located inside the store’s showroom and was responsible for

assisting customers with equipment rentals.

Ingram worked in close quarters with several other Sunbelt

employees. In addition to Ingram, there were three other rental man-

agers at the Gaithersburg location: David Gray, John "Hank" Parater,

and Barry Fortna. Gray and Parater had work stations on either side

of Ingram at the office’s rental counter, and Fortna, the "lead rental

manager," worked at a desk behind the counter.

In addition to his fellow rental managers, Ingram frequently inter-

acted with Mike Warner, the store’s shop foreman, and Steve Riddle-

moser, the overall manager of the Gaithersburg office. When

Riddlemoser was not in the office, Warner served as the "acting man-

ager." If both Riddlemoser and Warner were absent, then Fortna was

left in charge. The regional manager for the Gaithersburg location

was Eddie Dempster.

Prior to joining Sunbelt, Ingram, who is an African American, con-

verted to Islam while serving in the United States Army. It is undis-

puted that Sunbelt, as well as Ingram’s coworkers, knew Ingram was

a Muslim. In fact, Sunbelt permitted Ingram to use a private, upstairs

room for short prayer sessions that were required by Ingram’s faith.

In addition, Sunbelt allowed Ingram to attend a weekly congrega-

tional prayer session that took place from 1:00-1:45 p.m. on Friday

afternoons. Ingram also observed tenets of his faith at the workplace

by keeping a beard and wearing a kufi, a traditional headgear worn

by Muslim men. Notably, Ingram was the only Muslim employee at

the Gaithersburg office.

During his time at Sunbelt, Ingram claims he was subjected to a

hostile work environment on the basis of his religion. According to

Ingram, the abusive environment was marked by a steady stream of

demeaning comments and degrading actions directed against him by

his coworkers — conduct that went unaddressed and unpunished by

Sunbelt supervisors.

For instance, coworkers used religiously-charged epithets and often

called Ingram names such as "Taliban" and "towel head." In addition,

4 EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS

fellow employees frequently made fun of Ingram’s appearance, chal-

lenged his allegiance to the United States, suggested he was a terror-

ist, and made comments associating all Muslims with senseless

violence. Sometimes Ingram’s supervisors personally participated in

the harassment. Sunbelt responds, in turn, that Ingram also used pro-

fane and derogatory language in the workplace.

Additionally, Ingram was the victim of several religiously charged

incidents. For instance, on one occasion, Gray held a metal detector

to Ingram’s head and, after the detector did not go off, called Ingram

a "fake ass Muslim want-to-be turbine wearing ass." In a separate

incident, Gray showed Ingram a stapler and said that "if anyone

upsets you pretend this stapler is a model airplane [and] just toss it

in the air, just repeatedly catch it, [and] don’t say anything." Ingram

understood this to be a reference to the September 11 attacks and

another attempt by Gray to equate Ingram with terrorists. Finally, a

cartoon was posted in the store’s dispatch area depicting persons

"dressed in Islamic or Muslim attire" as suicide bombers. Taking

offense, Ingram complained about the cartoon to the dispatcher and

eventually tore it down.

In addition to these explicitly religious incidents, Ingram suffered

from other forms of harassment. For example, his timecard, which

was used to punch time in and out, was frequently hidden, especially

on Fridays when he went to congregational prayer. Likewise,

coworkers constantly unplugged his computer equipment and, on one

occasion, defaced his business card by writing "dumb ass" over his

name.

After nearly every incident of harassment, Ingram verbally com-

plained to Riddlemoser, and sometimes Dempster and Warner as

well. Indeed, according to Gray, "[w]henever anything that [Ingram]

believed to be inappropriate was said or done to him, he immediately

took his complaint to Steve [Riddlemoser]." However, these com-

plaints proved futile, and the religious harassment persisted.

On Friday, November 15, 2002, after discovering his timecard was

missing, Ingram confronted Warner, who he believed was responsible

for the hidden timecard. After a heated exchange, Ingram was sent

EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS 5

home for the day and told that Riddlemoser, who was absent, would

deal with the issue when he returned the following Monday.

Later that day, Ingram contacted Sunbelt’s Human Resources

Department and spoke with HR Specialist Stephanie Wilson. During

two phone conversations with Wilson, Ingram expressed his frustra-

tion about the ongoing harassment and explained that he believed it

was because of his religion. Wilson told Ingram to fax her a written

complaint detailing some specific incidents of the alleged harassment.

After receiving Ingram’s written complaint, Wilson emailed Rid-

dlemoser to inform him of the situation. She outlined Ingram’s com-

plaint of harassment, noting that Ingram alleged that someone was "1)

leaving rude written messages (profanity) on his paperwork, 2)

unplugging his monitor, 3) misplacing his timecard, [and] 4) voicing

physical threats against him to other employees, etc. He believes that

this harassment is based on his religion ([M]uslim). He tells me that

he has voiced his concerns to you on several occasions and nothing

has been done." Wilson also emphasized that these were serious alle-

gations and that discrimination on the basis of religion could not be

tolerated under Sunbelt’s personnel policies.*

Riddlemoser forwarded the email to Dempster, and both informed

Wilson they would look into the matter. The following week Riddle-

moser talked with Ingram and his coworkers about the issues alleged

in Ingram’s written complaint. After investigating the various inci-

dents, Riddlemoser refused to take any disciplinary action because of

what he believed to be insufficient evidence about who was responsi-

ble for the acts alleged. However, Riddlemoser did tell Ingram’s

coworkers to avoid making comments about Ingram or Muslims in

general.

*Sunbelt’s anti-harassment policy states that "Sunbelt is committed to

maintaining a work environment that is free of discrimination." It also

observes that "Sunbelt will not tolerate harassing conduct that affects

tangible job benefits, that interferes with an individual’s work perfor-

mance or that creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working envi-

ronment."

6 EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS

On November 19, 2002, Riddlemoser reported to Wilson that he

had determined the basis of the complaints and that "none of these

allegations are religious based." Rather, "they are personal. Clinton’s

performance and personality are the only cause for the problems.

We’ve allowed him to leave every Friday for an hour to pray due to

his religion so I believe we’ve been very accommodating to him."

When asked whether he had spoken to Ingram about these supposed

"performance issues," Riddlemoser informed Wilson that he talked

with Ingram about his manner and how he should not "take things so

personal." Riddlemoser also told Ingram that so long as Ingram

"maintains a positive attitude," then the issues with "Sunbelt would

roll right off his shoulder and [he] could leave work with the same

positive attitude."

Dempster also met with Ingram to discuss the incidents in the writ-

ten complaint. According to Ingram, Dempster "pre-judg[ed] the situ-

ation" and did not even "ask [Ingram] what happened." Rather,

Dempster simply informed Ingram that the coworkers alleged to be

responsible for the harassment were "denying everything."

After a short period of relative improvement, the religious harass-

ment and pranks "just basically started up again." For instance, Gray

continued to harass Ingram about his appearance and his faith. After

Ingram informed Dempster that the harassment was "starting to hap-

pen again," Dempster accused Ingram of "being paranoid," "seeing

things," and "trying to build a case against" Sunbelt. The harassment

allegedly continued until Ingram’s termination in February 2003.

B.

On May 13, 2005, the EEOC filed an amended complaint on behalf

of Ingram alleging that Sunbelt had violated Title VII of the Civil

Rights Act of 1964 and Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 by sub-

jecting Ingram to a hostile work environment based on his religion.

Specifically, the EEOC claimed that Ingram suffered "pervasive,

unwelcome harassment based on his religion," including "demeaning

comments about his religious beliefs and practices by Sunbelt

employees." In addition, the EEOC alleged that Sunbelt and its man-

agers had notice of the harassment but failed to take corrective action

with respect to the hostile working environment.

EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS 7

On December 1, 2006, the district court held a hearing on the

motion for summary judgment filed by Sunbelt. At the conclusion of

the hearing, the district court issued an oral ruling in favor of Sunbelt.

The court held that based on the facts alleged, it did not believe the

harassment was severe or pervasive enough to establish a prima facie

case of a hostile work environment.

In making this finding, the court emphasized several factors. First,

it noted that "[t]here’s a lot of coarse behavior that goes on in the

workplace," and Sunbelt was "a little more rough and ready than, let

us say, the Century Club of New York of which fine ladies are mem-

bers." Second, the court stated that several of the incidents that

Ingram complained about, such as the hiding of his timecard, lacked

a direct "nexus with religion." Third, the court explained that if the

explicitly religious incidents involving his coworkers were suffi-

ciently severe or pervasive, Ingram would have included them in his

written complaint to Human Resources. Because he did not, the dis-

trict court presumed they must not have been sufficiently severe or

pervasive.

In the alternative, the court held that even if the conduct was suffi-

ciently severe or pervasive for the purpose of Title VII, the EEOC had

failed to establish a basis for holding Sunbelt liable. The court found

that in fact Sunbelt had attempted to address the problems noted in

the written complaint. Furthermore, the court dismissed Ingram’s con-

tention that he frequently made verbal complaints to Riddlemoser and

others but to no avail. According to the district court, "[t]he problem

with [allowing] this [argument] is that any number of employees

could come in and say, I complained again and again and again.

There’s a record of a complaint and they didn’t do anything, and

therefore I made my prima facie case."

The district court entered a final judgment dismissing the EEOC’s

claims on December 4, 2006. The EEOC appealed the grant of sum-

mary judgment on the hostile work environment claim, which we now

consider.

II.

Title VII makes it unlawful for an employer "to discriminate

against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, condi-

8 EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS

tions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s . . .

religion." 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1) (2000). "Since an employee’s

work environment is a term or condition of employment, Title VII

creates a hostile working environment cause of action." EEOC v.

R&R Ventures, 244 F.3d 334, 338 (4th Cir. 2001) (citing Meritor Sav.

Bank, FSB v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57, 73 (1986)).

In order to prove that Ingram suffered from a "discriminatorily hos-

tile or abusive work environment," Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc.,

510 U.S. 17, 21 (1993), the EEOC must demonstrate that the harass-

ment was (1) unwelcome, (2) because of religion, (3) sufficiently

severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment and create

an abusive atmosphere, and (4) imputable to the employer, see Gil-

liam v. South Carolina Dep’t of Juvenile Justice, 474 F.3d 134, 142

(4th Cir. 2007) (citing Spriggs v. Diamond Auto Glass, 242 F.3d 179,

183-84 (4th Cir. 2001)). Because the EEOC "seeks here to reverse a

grant of summary judgment, it must establish a material dispute of

fact with respect to each of the four requirements." R&R Ventures,

244 F.3d at 338.

A.

The "gravamen" of any hostile work environment claim is that the

harassment was "unwelcome." See Meritor, 477 U.S. at 68. A reason-

able jury could determine that the religious harassment here was

unwelcome indeed.

To begin, Ingram complained, both verbally and in writing, about

the alleged harassment to his supervisors. In fact, according to Gray,

Ingram complained to Riddlemoser "[w]henever anything that

[Ingram] believed to be inappropriate was said or done to him."

Ingram even asked Dempster, the regional manager, whether he could

transfer from the Gaithersburg location because of the harassment he

endured. Likewise, in his written complaint to Human Resources,

Ingram concluded by noting that he was "tired of [the harassment]"

and that Sunbelt was "an unhealthy environment to work in."

In addition to lodging these complaints, Ingram made clear to his

coworkers that the harassing comments about his religion were

unwelcome. For instance, when fellow employees called him "Tali-

EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS 9

ban" or made fun of his beard or headwear, Ingram consistently

defended himself and his religion, explaining that he was "not with

the Taliban" and that such statements made him "feel very uncomfort-

able." In fact, Gray explained that part of the reason why coworkers

gave Ingram such "a hard time" was "[b]ecause he took it so person-

ally."

But of course the conduct was aimed at Ingram — personally —

and it is difficult to see how any employee would welcome derisive

behavior directed at his faith. Because Ingram indicated to both man-

agement and his coworkers that he found the religiously demeaning

conduct to be offensive, the EEOC "has sufficiently alleged that [the]

harassment was unwelcome." Smith v. First Union Nat’l Bank, 202

F.3d 234, 242 (4th Cir. 2000).

B.

The EEOC must next establish that the harassment was based on

Ingram’s religion. In order for a Title VII plaintiff to survive sum-

mary judgment, he must present sufficient evidence that the harassing

conduct "was motivated by [religious] animosity." Gilliam, 474 F.3d

at 142-43. Here again the EEOC has met its burden.

Coworkers frequently used religious epithets or other religiously

derogatory terms when referring to Ingram. For instance, other Sun-

belt employees repeatedly called Ingram "Taliban" or "towel head."

These same nicknames would not have been applied to a non-Muslim

employee. Moreover, Ingram was consistently teased about his

appearance, particularly his kufi and beard. In addition, Ingram testi-

fied that Gray often harassed him about his short prayer sessions dur-

ing work hours. Put simply, there is overwhelming evidence that, as

even Gray subsequently admitted, Ingram’s "work associates had no

respect for [him] being a Muslim" and this was the basis of their con-

duct.

C.

The main area of contention here is whether the harassment alleged

by Ingram was "sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions

10 EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS

of [his] employment and create an abusive working environment."

Harris, 510 U.S. at 21 (quoting Meritor, 477 U.S. at 67). Viewed on

summary judgment, the evidence establishes that Ingram persistently

suffered from religious harassment of the most demeaning, degrading,

and damaging sort. The district court erred when it held the EEOC

had failed to satisfy this requirement.

1.

The "severe or pervasive" element of a hostile work environment

claim "has both subjective and objective components." Ocheltree v.

Scollon Prods., Inc., 335 F.3d 325, 333 (4th Cir. 2003) (en banc) (cit-

ing Harris, 510 U.S. at 21-22). First, the plaintiff must show that he

"subjectively perceive[d] the environment to be abusive." Harris, 510

U.S. at 21-22. Next, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the conduct

was such that "a reasonable person in the plaintiff’s position" would

have found the environment objectively hostile or abusive. Oncale v.

Sundowner Offshore Servs., Inc., 523 U.S. 75, 81-82 (1998). Because

Sunbelt does not, and could not, challenge the EEOC’s contention

that the harassment seemed severe and pervasive to Ingram person-

ally, we focus our attention on the element’s objective component.

This objective inquiry "is not, and by its nature cannot be, a mathe-

matically precise test." Harris, 510 U.S. at 22. Rather, when deter-

mining whether the harassing conduct was objectively "severe or

pervasive," we must look "at all the circumstances," including "the

frequency of the discriminatory conduct; its severity; whether it is

physically threatening or humiliating, or a mere offensive utterance;

and whether it unreasonably interferes with an employee’s work per-

formance." Id. at 23; Ocheltree, 335 F.3d at 333. "[N]o single factor

is" dispositive, Harris, 510 U.S. at 23, as "[t]he real social impact of

workplace behavior often depends on a constellation of surrounding

circumstances, expectations, and relationships which are not fully

captured by a simple recitation of the words used or the physical acts

performed," Oncale, 523 U.S. at 81-82.

While this standard surely prohibits an employment atmosphere

that is "permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and

insult," Harris, 510 U.S. at 21 (internal quotations omitted), it is

equally clear that Title VII does not establish a "general civility code

EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS 11

for the American workplace," Oncale, 523 U.S. at 80. This is because,

in order to be actionable, the harassing "conduct must be [so] extreme

[as] to amount to a change in the terms and conditions of employ-

ment." Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775, 788 (1998).

Indeed, as the Court observed, "simple teasing, offhand comments,

and isolated incidents (unless extremely serious) will not amount to

discriminatory changes in the terms and conditions of employment."

Id. (internal quotations and citations omitted); see also Clark County

Sch. Dist. v. Breeden, 532 U.S. 268, 270-71 (2001).

Our circuit has likewise recognized that plaintiffs must clear a high

bar in order to satisfy the severe or pervasive test. Workplaces are not

always harmonious locales, and even incidents that would objectively

give rise to bruised or wounded feelings will not on that account sat-

isfy the severe or pervasive standard. Some rolling with the punches

is a fact of workplace life. Thus, complaints premised on nothing

more than "rude treatment by [coworkers]," Baqir v. Principi, 434

F.3d 733, 747 (4th Cir. 2006), "callous behavior by [one’s] superi-

ors," Bass v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 324 F.3d 761, 765 (4th

Cir. 2003), or "a routine difference of opinion and personality conflict

with [one’s] supervisor," Hawkins v. PepsiCo, Inc., 203 F.3d 274, 276

(4th Cir. 2000), are not actionable under Title VII.

The task then on summary judgment is to identify situations that

a reasonable jury might find to be so out of the ordinary as to meet

the severe or pervasive criterion. That is, instances where the environ-

ment was pervaded with discriminatory conduct "aimed to humiliate,

ridicule, or intimidate," thereby creating an abusive atmosphere. Jen-

nings v. Univ. of North Carolina, 482 F.3d 686, 695 (4th Cir. 2007)

(en banc) (citing Meritor, 477 U.S. at 65). With these principles in

mind, we examine whether a reasonable person in Ingram’s position

would have found the environment to be sufficiently severe or hostile.

2.

The evidence indicates that Ingram suffered religious harassment

that was "persistent, demeaning, unrelenting, and widespread." Harris

v. L & L Wings, Inc., 132 F.3d 978, 984 (4th Cir. 1997). It is impossi-

ble as an initial matter to ignore the context in which the harassment

took place. In the time immediately following September 11th, reli-

12 EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS

gious tensions ran higher in much of the country, and Muslims were

sometimes viewed through the prism of 9/11, rather than as the indi-

viduals they were. Sunbelt’s Gaithersburg office was no exception.

After the terrorist attacks took place, there was lots of talk amongst

Sunbelt employees, especially by Gray, about how the "Muslim reli-

gion is bad." Likewise, after it was publicized that the D.C. snipers

were Muslim, anti-Islam sentiment rose in the Sunbelt workplace.

Ingram, the lone Muslim employee, was left to bear the verbal brunt

of anti-Islamic sentiment.

Specifically, Ingram was subject to repeated comments that dispar-

aged both him and his faith. Several coworkers, including one with

supervisory authority, referred to Ingram in harshly derogatory terms.

Mike Warner, the store’s shop foreman, called Ingram "Taliban"

"over and over again," as well as "towel head." Likewise, Sal Rin-

done, a Sunbelt mechanic, told Ingram that he thought Ingram was a

member of the Taliban. This same coworker also challenged Ingram’s

allegiance to the United States, asking Ingram "are you on our side

or are you on the Taliban’s side," and telling him that if "you don’t

like America or where we stand, you can just leave." Ingram, a vet-

eran of the United States Army, responded that he was not a member

of the Taliban but rather "an American and a Muslim."

In addition, Ingram was persistently harassed about his appearance,

particularly his kufi and beard. For example, Warner, when making

fun of Ingram’s appearance, "would make it known that" he thought

Ingram actually "look[ed] like a Taliban." On at least one occasion,

Gray called Ingram a "fake Muslim" because of his beard. As Gray

later admitted, such "comments were made often." According to

Ingram, the harassment by Gray was "an ongoing thing, daily."

Ingram was also harassed about his short, Sunbelt-sanctioned

prayer sessions. Gray told Ingram "several times" that he had a "prob-

lem" with Ingram leaving his desk to pray. In addition, Ingram’s time-

card was often hidden on Fridays, the day he went to congregational

prayer. Even more severe was a comment made by Warner to another

coworker, which was later related to Ingram. Warner said that if he

ever caught Ingram praying upstairs, that would be "the end of him."

In addition to the abusive comments made to and about Ingram

personally, several coworkers made hostile remarks about Islam gen-

EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS 13

erally. For instance, rental manager Hank Parater told Ingram that the

United States should go to Saudi Arabia and "kill them all," referring

to Muslims in the Arab world. Parater also said that he wanted to be

a Muslim so he could have eight wives. After it was announced on

a television in the store’s showroom that the D.C. snipers had been

apprehended, another coworker stared at Ingram and shouted, "I

should have known they were Muslims." Gray admitted that the treat-

ment of Ingram likely stemmed from "the events of September 11th

and the sniper attacks in our area."

Ingram was also the object of anti-Muslim crudities that associated

Ingram, and the Muslim faith, with violence and terrorism. For

instance, one time Gray was carrying a metal detector and, as Ingram

walked by, he raised the metal detector to Ingram’s head garment.

Presumably because the detector did not go off, Gray called Ingram

a "fake ass Muslim want-to-be turbine wearing ass." On another occa-

sion, Gray, while holding a stapler in his hand, told Ingram that "if

anyone upsets you pretend this stapler is a model airplane [and] just

toss it in the air, just repeatedly catch it, just don’t say anything." For

Ingram, the implication was clear: Gray was trying "[t]o connect me

and my religion as terrorists [and] the ones who . . . took the planes

that smashed into the buildings September 11th." Finally, a cartoon

posted in a main work area depicted several persons "dressed in

Islamic or Muslim attire" as suicide bombers. In the cartoon, an

instructor with a bomb strapped to his body tells the others: "okay,

pay attention" because "I’m only showing you . . . how this works

once."

While we must focus primarily "on [Ingram’s] personal experi-

ence," Honor v. Booz-Allen & Hamilton, Inc., 383 F.3d 180, 190 (4th

Cir. 2004), comments made to others are also "relevant to determin-

ing whether [Ingram] was subjected to" severe or pervasive religious

harassment, Jennings, 482 F.3d at 695. For "[w]e are, after all, con-

cerned with the ‘environment’ of workplace hostility, and whatever

the contours of one’s environment, they surely may exceed the indi-

vidual dynamic between complainant and his [coworkers]." Spriggs,

242 F.3d at 184; Jennings, 482 F.3d at 696. Relevant therefore is the

testimony of two Sunbelt customers who support Ingram’s assertion

that the workplace was permeated with anti-Muslim hostility. Abol-

hassan Nejati, a Muslim customer of Sunbelt’s Gaithersburg office,

14 EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS

testified that Sunbelt employees called him a litany of derogatory

names, including "Bin Laden," "Hezbullah," "Ayatollah," "Kadaffi,"

"Saddam Hussein," "terrorist," and "sun nigger." Nejati also testified

that he was called these names "many times," usually by Gray.

Another Muslim customer, Aboulaye Komara, explained that during

one visit, a Sunbelt employee said "very derogatory things about

Muslim people in general," and expressed his belief that "all Muslims

are associated with violence."

Ingram also was forced to endure harassment lacking a direct reli-

gious nexus. Coworkers frequently hid Ingram’s timecard, unplugged

his computer equipment, and defaced his business card with terms

such as "dumb ass." Although similar pranks were played on other

Sunbelt employees, there is evidence suggesting that Ingram suffered

such harassment more often than others and more likely because of

his religion. For instance, Ingram’s timecard was hidden most fre-

quently on Fridays, the day he went to congregational prayer. On the

Friday before Ingram filed the written complaint, his timecard was

hidden on at least five separate occasions. In light of the extensive,

explicitly religious harassment by the same coworkers, a reasonable

jury could infer that other harassing incidents were also motivated by

a disdain for Ingram’s faith.

Sunbelt makes much of the fact that those who participated in the

harassment were merely Ingram’s coworkers, and not anyone with

supervisory authority over him. However, the evidence presented

creates at least a triable issue in that regard. Warner, the store’s shop

foreman and a primary harasser of Ingram’s, served as the acting

manager whenever Riddlemoser was absent. At the very least, he was

viewed as a "higher up" within the office. Similarly, Fortna, the lead

rental manager, supervised Ingram’s work and even signed the "su-

pervisor" line on Ingram’s disciplinary forms. As a result, a jury could

infer that the harassment by Warner and Fortna had a greater impact

given their supervisory status. See Faragher, 524 U.S. at 803.

Likewise, Sunbelt insists the harassment could not have been suffi-

ciently severe because, inter alia, it was never "physically threaten-

ing." While the presence of "physical threats undeniably strengthens

a hostile work environment claim," we have not held that such evi-

dence is required. White v. BFI Waste Servs., 375 F.3d 288, 298 n.6

EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS 15

(4th Cir. 2004). Names can hurt as much as sticks and stones, and the

Supreme Court has never indicated that the humiliation so frequently

attached to hostile environments need be accompanied by physical

threat or force.

While the district court suggested that the harassment might be dis-

counted because the environment was inherently coarse, Title VII

contains no such "crude environment" exception, and to read one into

it might vitiate statutory safeguards for those who need them most. Of

course, if Sunbelt’s environment was somehow so universally crude

that the treatment of Ingram was nothing out of the ordinary, the jury

would be entitled to take that into account. However, the evidence

here suggests that the jury could also take the opposite view — that

the harassment of Ingram was unique.

Any of the above incidents, viewed in isolation, would not have

been enough to have transformed the workplace into a hostile or abu-

sive one. No employer can lightly be held liable for single or scattered

incidents. We cannot ignore, however, the habitual use of epithets

here or view the conduct without an eye for its cumulative effect. Our

precedent has made this point repeatedly. See Amirmokri v. Baltimore

Gas & Elec. Co., 60 F.3d 1126, 1131 (4th Cir. 1995) (finding the

alleged harassment was sufficiently severe or pervasive because an

Iranian plaintiff was called "names like ‘the local terrorist,’ a ‘camel

jockey’ and ‘the Emir of Waldorf’" on an almost daily basis); White,

375 F.3d at 297-98 (same); Spriggs, 242 F.3d at 182, 185-86 (same);

see also EEOC v. WC&M Enters., Inc., 496 F.3d 393, 400-01 (5th

Cir. 2007) (same).

Companies cannot, of course, be charged with cleansing their

workplace of all offensive remarks. Such a task would be well-nigh

impossible, and would encourage companies to adopt authoritarian

traits. But we cannot regard as "merely offensive," and thus "beyond

Title VII’s purview," Harris, 510 U.S. at 21, constant and repetitive

abuse founded upon misperceptions that all Muslims possess hostile

designs against the United States, that all Muslims support jihad, that

all Muslims were sympathetic to the 9/11 attack, and that all Muslims

are proponents of radical Islam.

If Americans were forced to practice their faith under the condi-

tions to which Ingram was subject, the Free Exercise Clause and the

16 EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS

embodiment of its values in the Title VII protections against work-

place religious prejudice would ring quite hollow. Title VII makes

plain that religious freedom in America entails more than the right to

attend one’s own synagogue, mosque, or church. Free religious exer-

cise would mean little if restricted to places of worship or days of

observance, only to disappear the next morning at work. In this

regard, Title VII helps ensure the special nature of American unity,

one not premised on homogeneity but upon the common allegiance

to and customary practice of our constitutional ideals of mutual

respect.

D.

Fourth, and finally, the EEOC must establish "some basis for

imposing liability on" Sunbelt. Gilliam, 474 F.3d at 142. Because

Ingram notified supervisors about the alleged harassment on numer-

ous occasions, both verbally and in writing, and because Sunbelt

failed to take prompt corrective action, we find the agency has satis-

fied this requirement.

An employer is liable for harassment by the victim’s coworkers

only "if it knew or should have known about the harassment and

failed to take effective action to stop it." Howard v. Winter, 446 F.3d

559, 565 (4th Cir. 2006) (quoting Ocheltree, 335 F.3d at 334).

"Knowledge of harassment can be imputed to an employer if a rea-

sonable person, intent on complying with Title VII, would have

known about the harassment." Ocheltree, 335 F.3d at 334 (internal

quotations omitted). Once the employer has notice, then it must

respond with remedial action "reasonably calculated to end the

harassment." Amirmokri, 60 F.3d at 1131-32; see also Howard, 446

F.3d at 570-71.

A reasonable jury could determine that Sunbelt had notice of the

religious harassment. Ingram verbally complained to Riddlemoser,

the store’s manager and Ingram’s supervisor, after most of the harass-

ing incidents. Indeed, according to Gray, "[w]henever anything that

[Ingram] believed to be inappropriate was said or done to him, he

immediately took his complaint to Steve [Riddlemoser]." In fact,

Gray thought that, if anything, Ingram complained too much: "I don’t

EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS 17

think [Ingram’s] complaints were really taken seriously because he

complained so much."

In addition to these frequent complaints to Riddlemoser, Ingram

also complained to Dempster, the store’s regional manager. At one

point, Ingram even asked Dempster to be transferred to a different

location because of the continual harassment he experienced.

Ingram also filed a written complaint with the company’s Human

Resources Department. This written complaint referenced his earlier

verbal complaints ("I made it very clear to the manager this is harass-

ment and I am tired of it.") and provided some examples of harassing

conduct. Sunbelt, like the district court, makes much of the fact that

the incidents highlighted in the written complaint lacked a direct reli-

gious nexus. But this fact is not dispositive for several reasons.

First, when filing the complaint, Ingram made very clear to HR

Specialist Wilson that he believed the harassment was because of his

religion — a fact Wilson passed on in her report to Riddlemoser and

Dempster. Second, Ingram explained that the examples provided in

the written complaint were never intended to be an exhaustive list.

Rather, given his limited time and his understanding of the directions,

he simply wrote about incidents that had happened near the time of

the complaint. Third, the written submission cannot be viewed in iso-

lation, but rather in conjunction with the repeated oral complaints.

Based on the evidence presented, and in light of Gray’s corroborat-

ing testimony, we believe that any doubts espoused by the district

court about whether Sunbelt had sufficient notice were misplaced.

Evidence of repeated complaints to supervisors and managers creates

a triable issue as to whether the employer had notice of the harass-

ment. See L & L Wings, 132 F.3d at 982.

We must next determine whether Sunbelt responded with reason-

able corrective action. We believe a rational jury could find that it did

not. While the requirement of remedial action should not lead an

employer to impose baseless sanctions upon its employees, a jury

could have reason to believe that this employer in the close quarters

of the Gaithersburg office was practicing something akin to willful

blindness.

18 EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS

There is scant evidence that Sunbelt, and specifically Riddlemoser,

did anything meaningful in response to Ingram’s verbal complaints.

Despite promises to "get to the bottom" of it, Riddlemoser allowed

the harassment to continue. Indeed, there were no sanctions or even

reprimands for the religious harassment directed at Ingram. The lone

response appears to be Riddlemoser’s request that each employee sign

a form stating that he would not tamper with Ingram’s, or anyone

else’s, timecard.

Though Sunbelt supervisors did take more corrective action after

the written complaint, their response was not sufficient on these facts

to warrant summary judgment. Admittedly, there were corrective

steps undertaken by Sunbelt. For instance, Riddlemoser warned

Ingram’s coworkers not to comment on Ingram or Muslims in gen-

eral. Likewise, both Riddlemoser and Dempster conducted investiga-

tions about the specific incidents referenced in Ingram’s written

complaint.

At the same time, however, Riddlemoser and Dempster failed to

take additional action that a rational juror might consider reasonably

calculated to end the harassment. Instead, Dempster informed Ingram

that everyone was "denying everything" and, thus, there was little he

or Riddlemoser could do. Riddlemoser offered little more in the way

of comfort, advising Ingram that he simply needed to adopt a more

"positive attitude" and let his problems at Sunbelt "roll right off his

shoulder."

After Ingram complained to Dempster about the religious harass-

ment starting up again, he was met with accusations of paranoia and

litigation. Rather than investigating the matter further or taking any

form of corrective action, Dempster dismissed Ingram’s complaint

and accused him of "being paranoid," "seeing things," and "trying to

build a case against" Sunbelt.

The mere existence of an anti-harassment policy does not allow

Sunbelt to escape liability. While the "adoption of an effective anti-

harassment policy is an important factor in determining whether it

exercised reasonable care," the policy must be effective in order to

have meaningful value. Smith, 202 F.3d at 244; White, 375 F.3d at

299-300. Here the existence of the policy might still leave a jury

EEOC v. SUNBELT RENTALS 19

unconvinced that Sunbelt worked in a serious fashion to combat the

rampant harassment in its midst — harassment of which it was repeat-

edly made aware and which nonetheless continued unabated.

III.

Because the EEOC has established a genuine dispute of fact with

respect to each element of its hostile work environment claim, we

reverse the grant of summary judgment and remand the case with

directions it proceed to trial. The evidence is such that a jury could

see the matter Ingram’s way, and it shall have the chance to do so.

REVERSED AND REMANDED