Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
The #MeToo scandals has generated more work for lawyers. Last year, within New York sex scandals were shaking elite preparatory schools with an uptick in investigations. One unidentified school had spent at least $2 million on a comprehensive report detailing decades of sexual indiscretions between faculty members and students. This year, we saw reflections of harassment and abuse within the entertainment and political environments. It has had a momentum effect and impacted many with more and more cases being reported everyday.
No one is ever free from abuse of harassment and people are more vocal and aware of the abuse nowadays, as this hashtag has been trending on social media. Investigation, litigation and handling of sexual allegations are not easy to navigate and are emotionally taxing, whilst damaging to reputation of either victim or alleged perpetrator. One incident and its exposure often leads to others coming forward and class actions or multiple investigations. Reputation, character and conduct is important. Once an image is tarnished, it can be life affecting in so many ways. A cycle of resistance or denial can also exist in the cycle. Having insurance coverage in such instances helps relieve the emotional distress in finance over monies paid to victims or an insurance dispute over clauses and coverage can also arise. As more and more claims come out, it must be realized that one cannot be fully absolved of such allegations and the need to have measures in place in case is important. Prevention is always better than cure and whether or not employers wish to screen such conduct as part of their background check is also becoming a possible concern. The costs of such suits can be steep and the damage that is done can never be monetized. The possibility of employers screening behavior in an interview position for work purposes may also become more commonplace, as costs and money talks. It is not worth the baggage of having such persons within a working environment and maybe including contract clauses for relieving personal behavior whilst at work must be ensured within employment manuals. More education is required as to why such behavior will not be tolerated. Continue reading ›