Julianne Eisenberg was hired by Peter White and Mike Ewing to work on a “permanent, full-time” basis loading and unloading furniture at an Advance Warehouse in 1998. She worked on an hourly schedule, and was paid an hourly wage and received her “orders” from White. However, she did not receive benefits nor was she treated as an employee for tax purposes. On occasion, White would send employees home if there was little to do, or direct them to work on weekends if needed. Sometimes, Eisenberg and other workers would be told to go to another location, where a supervisor would direct their loading and unloading of material.

Shortly after starting at Advance, Eisenberg complained about sexual harassment on the job to Joan Isaacson, the company’s office manager. The warehouse was closed down the day after Eisenberg made her complaint. Later, Isaacson told Eisenberg that she would not be asked to return to work if she filed a complaint or hired an attorney to pursue allegations of sexual harassment. Eisenberg retained a lawyer and filed a sexual harassment complaint under Title VII and a state anti-discrimination statute. She was not asked to return to work.