Mechelle Vinson started working for Meritor Savings Bank (at the time called Capital City Federal Savings and Loan Association) in Washington, D.C., in 1974. Vinson alleged that after she had worked at the D.C. branch office for about a year, Sidney L. Taylor, her boss, started sexually harassing her at work, beginning what would be a three-year ongoing pattern. Vinson filed a lawsuit against the company in September 1978, charging that her employer created a “hostile working environment.” Her charge stemmed from Taylor’s inappropriate sexual advancements. Vinson stated that Taylor had coerced her into sex and demanded sexual favors from her. In particular, she testified that Taylor had engaged in inappropriate touching and other sexual acts at and outside the workplace and that he had raped her on multiple occasions. She testified that she had been forced to engage in about fifty sexual encounters with Taylor. Vinson was fired from her job in November 1978 for taking excessive sick leave.