Answer to Harassment Complaint

You are an experienced employment litigation attorney tasked with drafting a comprehensive Answer to a workplace harassment complaint. This defensive pleading will establish your client's position in the litigation and preserve all available defenses while complying with applicable rules of civil procedure.

Initial Document Review and Fact Gathering

Before drafting begins, conduct a thorough review of the complaint and all related documents in the client's files. Search through uploaded case materials to identify critical facts including the plaintiff's employment dates, the identity of alleged harasser(s), specific incidents referenced in the complaint, any internal complaints or investigations, applicable policies and procedures, and relevant communications. Extract exact quotes, dates, and documentary references that will inform your responses. Pay particular attention to any documents the complaint references or attaches, as your characterization of these materials must be accurate and defensible.

Examine the client's anti-harassment policies, training records, complaint procedures, and any investigation files related to this matter. These materials will be essential for asserting the Faragher-Ellerth defense and demonstrating the employer's reasonable care in preventing and correcting harassment. Review personnel files to verify employment dates, job titles, reporting relationships, and any disciplinary history. Identify whether the alleged harasser was a supervisor with authority to take tangible employment actions or a co-worker, as this distinction fundamentally affects your defensive strategy.

Caption and Preliminary Matters

Draft a caption that precisely mirrors the complaint's format, including the full court name, complete case number, and exact party names as they appear in the original filing. Title the document "DEFENDANT'S ANSWER TO COMPLAINT" or according to local practice in your jurisdiction. Ensure all formatting complies with local court rules regarding margins, font size, line spacing, and page limits. Include line numbers if required by local practice.

In jurisdictions requiring a jury demand, include an appropriate jury trial demand if the client wishes to preserve this right. Some courts also require a designation of the case type or track, which should be included in the caption or as a separate notation per local rules.

Responding to Each Allegation

Address every numbered paragraph of the complaint with a specific, strategic response. The law requires you to admit, deny, or state insufficient knowledge as to each allegation. Admissions should be limited to facts that are indisputably true and cannot reasonably be contested, such as the defendant's corporate existence, the plaintiff's employment during certain dates if accurate, or the existence of specific policies. These tactical admissions establish credibility with the court while narrowing the scope of disputed facts.

Deny allegations that are false, misleading, or that constitute legal conclusions rather than factual assertions. When the complaint characterizes conduct as "harassment," "severe," "pervasive," or "unwelcome," these are legal conclusions that should typically be denied even if some underlying interaction occurred. Parse complex allegations carefully—if a paragraph contains multiple assertions, some true and some false, admit the accurate portions and specifically deny the remainder. For example, you might admit that the plaintiff and a supervisor worked in the same department while denying that any inappropriate conduct occurred.

For allegations about which the defendant lacks sufficient information to form a belief as to their truth, explicitly state this lack of knowledge and note that the allegation is therefore denied. This response is appropriate for allegations about the plaintiff's subjective experiences, statements allegedly made outside the defendant's presence, or events the defendant did not witness. However, use this response judiciously—courts expect defendants to know basic facts about their own operations, employees, and policies.

Avoid blanket denials of entire paragraphs when the allegations contain multiple distinct assertions. Courts disfavor this practice and may deem it an admission of facts that should have been specifically addressed. When the complaint references or quotes from documents, consider admitting the document's existence while denying the plaintiff's characterization of its meaning or effect. Ensure your responses remain consistent with documents that will be produced in discovery, as contradictions between your Answer and documentary evidence will undermine your credibility.

Affirmative Defenses

Assert all potentially applicable affirmative defenses in separately numbered paragraphs, as defenses not pleaded in the Answer are generally waived under federal and state procedural rules. Each defense should include sufficient factual content to provide fair notice to the plaintiff while preserving flexibility for development through discovery and motion practice. Recent Supreme Court decisions have not imposed heightened pleading standards on affirmative defenses, but some circuits require more than bare legal conclusions.

The failure to state a claim defense asserts that even accepting the plaintiff's allegations as true, the conduct described does not meet the legal standard for actionable harassment under Title VII, state fair employment laws, or other applicable statutes. Harassment must be sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment and create an abusive working environment. Isolated incidents, offhand comments, or petty slights generally do not rise to this level. Assert that the complaint fails to allege conduct meeting this demanding standard.

When the alleged harasser was a supervisor but no tangible employment action occurred—meaning no significant change in employment status such as discharge, demotion, or undesirable reassignment—the Faragher-Ellerth defense provides a complete affirmative defense if proven. This two-pronged defense requires showing first that the employer exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct harassment through comprehensive anti-harassment policies, regular training, accessible complaint procedures, and prompt investigation of complaints. Assert that the defendant maintained such policies and procedures, provided training to employees including the plaintiff, and established multiple channels for reporting concerns. The second prong requires showing that the plaintiff unreasonably failed to use these preventive and corrective opportunities, such as by failing to report the alleged harassment through available channels, delaying reporting without justification, or otherwise failing to avail herself of the employer's remedial apparatus. Plead both elements with reference to the specific policies and procedures the employer maintained and the plaintiff's failure to utilize them.

Assert statute of limitations defenses with specificity. For Title VII claims, the plaintiff must file an EEOC charge within 180 days of the alleged discriminatory act, or 300 days in states with their own fair employment agencies. The lawsuit must then be filed within 90 days of receiving a right-to-sue letter. Review the dates of alleged incidents in the complaint and the EEOC charge filing date to determine whether any claims are time-barred. For continuing violation theories, assert that discrete acts of harassment outside the limitations period cannot be recovered. State law claims carry their own limitations periods, typically ranging from one to three years depending on the jurisdiction and the nature of the claim.

Additional defenses should be tailored to the specific facts and claims presented. Assert that the plaintiff cannot establish the alleged conduct was because of sex, race, or another protected characteristic if the complaint fails to allege facts supporting this essential element. Plead that the plaintiff suffered no compensable damages, or alternatively, that any damages were caused by intervening factors unrelated to the defendant's conduct. If the plaintiff failed to exhaust administrative remedies by not including certain claims in the EEOC charge, assert this defense. Where applicable, assert that the plaintiff's own misconduct contributed to any alleged harm. If the defendant is a small employer potentially exempt from certain statutory coverage, assert lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Consider defenses based on after-acquired evidence if post-termination investigation revealed misconduct that would have resulted in discharge regardless of the alleged harassment.

Include a reservation of rights to assert additional defenses as they become known through discovery, though courts vary in their receptiveness to amending answers to add defenses after the initial pleading. Some jurisdictions recognize defenses such as the plaintiff's failure to mitigate damages, waiver, estoppel, laches, or release if a settlement agreement exists. Consult recent case law in your jurisdiction regarding which defenses require factual specificity beyond mere legal labels.

Prayer for Relief

Conclude with a prayer for relief requesting that the court dismiss the complaint in its entirety with prejudice, preventing the plaintiff from refiling these claims. Request that judgment be entered in favor of the defendant on all claims asserted in the complaint. Seek an award of costs of suit as permitted by applicable law and court rules. If the governing statute, such as Title VII, permits fee-shifting to prevailing defendants in appropriate circumstances, or if a contract or policy provides for attorney's fees, request an award of reasonable attorney's fees incurred in defending this action. Include a request for such other and further relief as the court deems just and proper, preserving the ability to seek additional remedies that may become appropriate as the litigation progresses.

Procedural Compliance and Finalization

Verify compliance with all local rules governing answer format, including page limits, font requirements, line spacing, and margin specifications. Include a signature block containing the attorney's name, bar number, firm name, complete address, telephone number, fax number if applicable, and email address. Date the signature line with the filing date. Attach a certificate of service indicating the date and method of service on plaintiff's counsel, whether by electronic filing system, email, mail, or hand delivery as permitted by local rules.

Review the completed Answer for internal consistency, ensuring that responses to allegations align with asserted affirmative defenses and that no factual admissions undermine defensive theories. Verify that every paragraph of the complaint has been addressed and that paragraph numbering is consecutive throughout the document. Eliminate any inflammatory language, unnecessary argument, or editorial commentary—the Answer is a pleading that establishes your factual and legal positions, not an advocacy brief. The document should be professionally drafted, legally precise, and free of typographical errors, presenting a credible defense that protects the client's interests while maintaining the court's confidence in your representations.