Sexual Harassment Court Case Question
A Reader Asks This Question:
I just attended a court case where someone was being accused of sexual harassment and i have a Q about it?
Okay so this guy was being sued for sexual harassment but the Title of the case was : State vs. (guy’s name). It just doesn’t make sense to me, shouldn’t the person harassed be suing? Why would the state sue?
And if you think I have somehow missed something then tell me under what conditions does the State sue someone?
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5 Responses to Sexual Harassment Court Case Question
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This is a nice question regarding labor and employment law, and what mediums must be used to actually file suit in a sexual harassment case. Essentially, civil vs. criminal procedure is basic to those familiar with the legal field, but foreign to the average citizen. More literature on the difference would help bridge that gap!
Great question! The guys who have posted above seem quite knowledgeable. It’s amazing how much you can learn on the internet.
There is civil law and there is criminal law. Civil law is for settling disputes between people, while criminal law is about breaking democratically agreed law so it is State v. (person).
If you want to pursue someone through the courts, that is civil law and then it will be (person suing) v. (person sued). You have a dispute with them, and the state provides you with a way of settling it.
In this case, the guy had broken the law as enacted by the state legislature, so it is the state that has a dispute with him. In fact, the state didn’t sue him, it prosecuted him – suing is a word that only applies to civil law. It could possibly be that the person he harassed could also sue him for compensation in the civil courts. If both cases go against him, he would have to pay compensation under civil law AND be jailed under criminal law.
Here’s another thing to think about – if you commit murder, the person is dead so they CAN’T sue you! But it is a criminal offence under state law so the state prosecutes you in the criminal courts instead. See why there needs to be a difference?
This is a criminal case, the state brings the charges and does the investigation. If found guilty the offender could get jail time or other punishments (community service, educational classes, fines ect..) enforced by the state. In a civil case, the person being harassed or wronged would place charges and could be awarded monetary compensation.
In this example a civil case could be brought against him as well by the victim.
The State is not suing the person charged, but rather, they are prosecuting him criminally meaning if he is found guilty, he will face jail time, not just a fine. You can’t sue for really being sexually harassed other than perhaps mental damage or traumatic experience, this case was to determine if he’s going behind bars, so it falls in the hands of the State, or "Rex."
Suing is a civil matter in which a plaintiff sues a defendant for damages. Where it could be property damage, wills, injury, etc. Things that are not against the law per say. That would be stated as, for example, "Guido" v. "Your Name" as opposed to "Rex (State) v. "Guido" if I was being prosecuted.
Hope I Helped.