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by Mary-Kathryn Zachary, J.D.
HR managers and others concerned with the rights
of their employees may want to incorporate discussion of this Act
into supervisory training programs.
The Violence Against Women Act states:
- All persons have a right to be free from violent crimes based
on gender.
- people who violate that right are subject to penalties, including
compensatory and punitive damages.
- To support valid claims, victims must show that they were subject
to violent crimes motivated by their gender.
- The crime must be one that would be considered a felony in criminal
law and involve the threat of physical force.
- Random acts of violence not motivated by animus based on gender
are not covered under the statute.
Three recent workplace-related claims invoking
the Act:
- Plaintiff contended that her employer had engaged in the following
actions: engaging in inappropriate sexual advances, eventually
leading to rape.
- Plaintiff stated that she had become involved in a sexual relationship
with an officer and director of the company she worked for after
repeated pressure because she feared the loss of her job. When
she attempted to terminate the relationship, she alleged that
he responded with increasingly threatening language, whereupon
she resumed the relationship.
- The plaintiff contended that her immediate supervisor sexually
assaulted her and subjected her to both hostile environment and
sexual harassment.
How the Courts Ruled
In all three cases, the courts stated that the
alleged conduct was sufficient to meet the statutory requirement
that a crime of violence be committed
A Successful Claim
Plaintiff was a customer of a car dealership,
involved in a verbal disagreement with sales representatives who
allegedly chased her from the car lot while screaming and brandishing
pens.
The Result
The court reasoned that the plaintiff had sufficiently
alleged aggravated assault, that she was in reasonable fear of imminent
bodily harm, and that writing instruments could not be eliminated
as potential deadly weapons.
The Violence Against Women Act may be attractive
to plaintiffs for a number of reasons:
- Because the claim is brought against individuals, there is no
requirement that the company know of the behavior before liability
is possible, as under Title VII.
- The plaintiff may proceed directly against managers and individual
employees.
- Generous monetary remedies are available.
Clearly the Violence Against Women Act is emerging
as a new source of liability for workplace violence. Many of these
cases have also included claims under various other laws, such as
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Mary-Kathryn Zachary, J.D., is professor of
business administration at State University of West Georgia, Carrollton,
Georgia.
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