“Consent” is the agreement between two people to engage in whatever sexual behaviors they want. Theoretically and ethically, this is a simple thing. But the reality is that there are gray areas in the laws, and those shades of gray can make it incredibly difficult for victims of sexual assault to get the justice they…
The California Healthy Youth Act, which has been in place since 2016, provides “integrated, comprehensive, accurate, and unbiased sexual health and HIV prevention instruction” for public school students. Erin Prangley, associate director of government relations for the American Association of University Women, told EdSource that “Many school cultures trivialize harassment, tolerate language that degrades girls…
The essence of a punitive damage claims is to punish someone who’s wrongs are unconscionable, so they don’t harm anyone else. The payment of punitive damages is paid to the injured plaintiff. A punitive damage claim in any type of case requires more than a showing of carelessness or negligence. In California, the defendant must…
Larry Nassar, George Tyndall, James Heaps, Bayard Allmond and countless other physicians have faced the legal and professional consequences of sexual misconduct against patients most of whom were young and vulnerable. A story in the Los Angeles Times reports that since the fall of 2017, complaints against California physicians have increased by 62%. Those numbers…
In what seems to be the silver lining in the dark cloud that was the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment claims and the rise of the #MeToo movement, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports that in 2018, sexual harassment claims increased by 13.6% over the previous year, while the total number of complaints of workplace…
The Washington Post recently reported that a Boy Scout identified as S.D., was sexually assaulted hundreds of times by a scout leader. The incidents happened in the 1970s in Pennsylvania. A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the plaintiff against the Boy Scouts, the Penn Mountains Council, and the alleged abuser. It is one…
NBC News reported on July 3, 2019 that a New Jersey judge’s decision that a 16-year-old boy who was accused of the rape of an intoxicated girl was overturned by a higher state court. The accused, according to prosecutors, also filmed the sexual assault/rape and sent it to his friends. The government sought to have…
A recent law designed to protect child actors by providing sexual harassment prevention training is being delayed. Deadline reports that, according to the California Labor Commissioner’s office, the reason for the delay is that the two vendors contracted to provide the necessary training materials weren’t getting the job done. One vendor, according to Deadline, was…
At the climax of the Me Too movement, governmental leaders in California were unable to answer the most basic questions about the pervasive sexual harassment complaints swirling through state government agencies. The reason is that in 2012, the state shut down its system for tracking harassment and discrimination allegations. (The justification for this involved the…
A bill in California that would have forced Catholic priests to infringe upon their religious obligation to keep confessions sealed has been removed by its sponsor one day before debate was scheduled on the legislation. California Senate Bill 360 was taken off the July 9th legislative agenda involving a meeting of the Public Safety Committee.…