The following blog entry is written to illustrate an example of a sexual harassment case. Reviewing this kind of lawsuit should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this sexual harassment case and its proceedings.)
In summation, plaintiffs’ counsel maintained that the two plaintiffs were entitled to the same protection from sexual harassment as they would receive in any other employment context.
ABC Company denied that it negligently hired, trained or supervised its recruiters. Counsel for the defense argued that the two minors were motivated by their interest in having sex with military men and they weren’t raped because the sex was consensual. Counsel referenced Dallas and Rice’s videotaped statements to the Mendocino DA and the Sacramento Police Department that identified the sex as consensual to exemplify the assertions. Counsel also noted that the DA elected not to press charges based on that evidence.
Counsel further maintained that the two recruiters didn’t require any additional supervision during the sleepover event because they were properly trained ABC Company and their commanding officer would have had no reason to believe that they would have behaved improperly during the event.
Regarding the allegations that Damon had used his position as a recruiter to coerce a student into having sex with him on a previous occasion, counsel asserted that the ABC Company investigated the allegations and found that they weren’t credible. Counsel further contended that neither Damon nor anyone else used the No Child Left Behind database to locate Dallas. In fact, counsel argued that Dallas had already contacted another recruiter in Sacramento prior to moving to Folsom. Counsel asserted that Dallas then contacted the Placerville recruiting office which referred her to Damon’s Sacramento office. Dallas then asked the Placerville recruiter to have Damon call her.
Counsel also argued that neither of the plaintiffs ended up joining the ABC Company despite their aspirations to do so. Thus counsel asserted a claim for injunctive relief that the two plaintiffs would recruit again if they felt assured that a similar occurrence would be properly prevented from happening in the future if they elected to join the ABC Company.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
Counsel for the defense denied that the two plaintiffs had sustained the emotional injuries that they were claiming, as the sex was consensual.
Lastly, both Damon and Fallows are no longer ABC Company. Defense counsel indicated that both defendants were court-martialed and convicted by the company. Damon was court-martialed for having sex with Dallas, among other things, but the jury did not convict him for having sex with Dallas. Fallows was not court-martialed for having sex with Rice because she refused to testify against him. However, Fallows was later convicted on related charges involving other witnesses who were willing to testify.
SUMMARY:
RESULT: Settlement
The parties agreed to a settlement whereby the two plaintiffs received $200,000.
The northern California branch of ABC Company agreed to establish a sexual practices office and allow female recruits to request female recruiter and to talk in confidence with a uniformed victims advocate. Furthermore, ABC Company agreed that there would be constant on-site command supervision of recruitment activities, notices about sexual assault would be posted in recruitment offices and enforceable prohibitions against alcohol and drug use at recruitment activities would be implemented.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.