Quote:
Originally Posted by Dimis
I thought our moderator was a lawyer... No?
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Well yeah...I'm a management-side labor and employment type
bloodsucker. I fight off unionization, negotiate labor agreements, and defend against employment lawsuits, including...
...oh my gosh...sexual harassment suits. We have several of these cases at any one time. They are, without a doubt, the worst type of litigation for an employer to defend against. Win or lose, by the time the litigation ends, people are hurt emotionally on both sides. There is insurance coverage for these types of suits, but it's extremely expensive for small to medium sized employers, and many go without.
For our Aussie buds, we do not enjoy the rational approach followed in the Commonwealth, which some of my Gashole buddies (who can bite my ass...again) alluded to above...loser pays. We on the defense side do not work on contingencies...so the employer incurs the expense regardless of the outcome.
Regardless of training supervisors and employees on how to keep their damn hands off each other, etc., and how well HR carries out investigations...these type of suits are easy to file. We (defense attorneys) knock out the vast majority by sifting through obvious BS and getting those cases dismissed...you never hear about those. The cases that get past our initial hits are then subject to settlement by insurance companies or the employers if there is a probability of liability. Only a small percentage go to trial. If we win, you don't hear about it...the relatively few the plaintiffs win make it to the front page.
Sex sells.