Who is liable for sexual harassment if you were employed by a temporary agency?

Suppose, you sign up with a temp employment agency to find a job, the place you in a temporary assignment at one of their clients’ sites where you end up being a victim of sexual harassment. How would be liable in this situation - the company where you were temporarily employed, the temp agency or both?

Under Mathieu v. Norrell Corp., 115 Cal.App.4th 1174 (2004), in the context of an individual who is employed by a temporary agency and assigned to work on the premises of the agency’s client, the purpose of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) to safeguard an employee’s right to hold employment without experiencing discrimination is best served by applying the traditional labor law doctrine of “dual employers,” which holds that both the agency and the agency's client - company are employers for the purposes of FEHA anti-discrimination laws, and considers harassment by an employee of the client to be a coworker's harassment rather than harassment by a third party. This means, that a temporary agency may be liable for the sexual harassment that took place at one of it’s clients’ sites.

Like other defendants, the temporary employment agency may avoid liability for sexual harassment claim under FEHA by demonstrating that (i) it responded appropriately to claims of harassment made by the employee; and/or (ii) the agency was not aware of the alleged sexual harassment at the company until it had ceased.