Justice O'Connor wrote in the decision: "This standard, which we reaffirm today, takes a middle path between making actionable any conduct that is merely offensive and requiring the conduct to cause a tangible psychological injury."
The decision makes it clear that a victim need not exhibit psychological scars such as personality disorders, clinical depression, suicide attempts, or other serious damage in order to prove that harassment did occur.
Harris vs. Forklift, Inc., is the case that clarified the legal understanding of the "hostile environment" type of sexual harassment, as well as the "reasonable person standard," which is used in most harassment cases.