Listening to vulgar music that others can hear at work? You might be harassing your coworkers, a federal judge ruled

• A US appeals court ruled that offensive music played loudly in the workplace may violate sex discrimination laws. 
• A 2020 lawsuit against a Nevada company alleged that complaints about offensive music were ignored.
• The court ruled this week that the suit was incorrectly dismissed.

If you listen to music with vulgar or offensive lyrics too loud at work, you may be harassing your coworkers and be legally liable for sex discrimination.

That’s the opinion of M. Margaret McKeown, an appeals court judge in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. McKeown wrote an opinion earlier this week stating that a lawsuit against S&S Activewear, which alleged the warehouse company’s management ignored complaints about offensive music, was incorrectly dismissed.