Employers may lean toward taking a hands-off approach when customers or other third parties exhibit discriminatory behavior in a workplace, but the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission takes a dim view of laissez-faire attitudes and will sue.

Case in point: A recent lawsuit the EEOC filed against a Vermont nursing home that it said allowed mostly White patients to subject Black nurses to racial harassment. The agency said the long-term care facility in Burlington, Vt., had allowed the patients to use racial slurs, among other harassing behavior.

“I do think there is an obligation to have policies in place for how you’re going to deal with the issue when it arises because you’ve got to know that it’s going to arise,” said Maxine Neuhauser, an attorney at Epstein Becker & Green PC. “Any employer should know that its employees are entitled to not be abused in the workplace.”

It’s not uncommon for employers to take a hands-off approach to third-party discrimination, according to Aliaksandra Ramanenka, a New York-based plaintiff’s attorney at Outten & Golden.

“I don’t think a lot of employers realize they might be liable to their employees for the conduct of a third party,” she said. “That is a common thread in the cases I’ve dealt with.”

Not addressing the discrimination at the nursing home violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the EEOC said, noting that it’s...

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