Michael Cooke, an African-American male, worked at Novellus Systems in Silicon Valley where he had to listen on a regular basis to a Vietnamese-American coworker playing and rapping aloud to music lyrics that included racial epithets such as the “N-word.” Although Cooke complained several times to his supervisors and made it clear that the language was offensive to him, the coworker continued to sing along to offensive lyrics within Cooke’s earshot, and to use slang including racial epithets. The EEOC, on behalf of Cooke, brought a Title VII claim against Novelle Systems for racial harassment. Decide.