Hostile environment harassment refers to sexual harassment so severe or pervasive as to interfere unreasonably with an individual's work performance or to create an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment.

Under Federal law, unwanted sexual advances are prohibited only if submission to or refusal to submit to such conduct is used as the basis for employment-related decisions, would unreasonably interfere with an employee's work performance, or would create an adverse work environment.

Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.

"While we should have adequate legal safeguards to shield children from objectionable content," he said, "those safeguards cannot unreasonably interfere with the rights of adults to have access to materials that are legal for them."

The majority also ruled against the plaintiffs on the second argument (but the minority were strongly of the view) that the law unreasonably interfered with lawyers going about their constitutionally protected vocation.

The common law doctrine of nuisance, for example, prevented owners from using their land in a way that interfered unreasonably with the rights of their neighbors.

In her order, Justice Solomon said that before college students on welfare are assigned to workfare, the city must first do an individualized assessment to insure that the workfare job does not unreasonably interfere with their education.

Such conduct becomes illegal either when sexual submission becomes a condition of employment or promotion, unreasonably interferes with one's work performance or creates "an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment" for the person affected.

Upholding the library on the issue of hygiene, the panel said that patrons with offensive body odor would unreasonably interfere with other patrons' use and enjoyment of the library.

Unlike quid pro quo sexual harassment, hostile work environment harassment arises when "sexual conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment."