Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
After a police officer pressured a woman for oral sex in a suburb of Chicago, including harassing her at her place of work, the woman filed a lawsuit against the police officer and Cook County. For obvious reasons, she asked the court to allow her to remain anonymous, filing the lawsuit under the name Jane Doe v. Cook County. Unfortunately, Doe only knows the first name of the officer who sexually harassed her: Kevin. The sheriff’s office is also named as a defendant.
While the federal courts used to require every plaintiff to provide their full name in order to file a lawsuit, they have since allowed certain exceptions, including whether the plaintiff identifying themselves would result in “retaliatory physical or mental harm”.
There are plenty of well-documented cases of women receiving death threats when accusing men (especially men in power) of sexual harassment or assault. For example, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford needed to hire a security detail after receiving an onslaught of threats to her personal safety leading up to her testimony before the Senate. However, the judge assigned to the case of Jane Doe v. Cook County, U.S. Judge Charles Norgle, denied Doe’s request for anonymity.
This is in spite of the fact that, not only is there a long history of retaliation against women accusing men in power, but police officers in particular are notorious for closing their ranks and protecting their own, making the recent conviction of Derek Chauvin so remarkable. No one who knows that history could be surprised by Doe’s request for anonymity or think it unreasonable. Continue reading ›