Includes: Rape and Sexual Assault, Child Sexual Abuse, Domestic Violence, Hate Crimes.
This claim can arise in situations such as barroom brawls, sexual abuse by clergy, child sexual abuse, date rapes, sexual assaults by co-workers, domestic violence, gay bashing and any other situation resulting in injuries from intentional and nonconsensual physical contact.
In addition to a claim for damages caused by physical injuries, victims of these types of crimes may also seek financial compensation for the emotional distress suffered as a result of the crime. In most cases, the emotional distress claim for damages may far exceed any physical damages. The often invisible emotional and psychological consequences may remain long after physcial injuries have healed.
The Massachusetts Civil Rights Act prohibits the interference with a person's protected rights by means of threats, intimidation or coercion. An offender who commits an assault and battery and related crimes may be liable for damages under the Massachusetts civil rights law.
A victim can be compensated for emotional damages caused by non-physical harassment based on a person’s race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religion. For example, emotional distress caused by the painting of a swastika on the home of a Jewish family or the burning of a cross on the lawn of an African-American family may be the basis for a civil lawsuit.
A victim can recover for damages caused by nearly any kind of outrageous, reckless or intentional conduct that causes the victim emotional distress. Examples can include the seduction of a high school student by a teacher, systematic and serious harassment of one neighbor by another, and one person stalking another. Almost every other common legal claim discussed throughout this section can provide the basis for an emotional distress claim. Examples of emotional distress can include anxiety, sleeplessness, inability to work, fear of leaving home, social withdrawal, panic attacks, flashbacks, nightmares, depression, and other emotional disruptions to the quality of one’s life.
On rare occasions a patient may be seduced into a sexual relationship with their psychotherapist. This sexual relationship is often extremely emotionally damaging to the patient. The apparent consent of the patient to the sexual relationship is outweighed by the ethical prohibition against a psychotherapist having a sexual relationship with a patients These claims are considered a form of psychotherapy malpractice.
In addition to the offender, other individuals or institutions may be liable for the victim’s losses and emotional distress. Schools, universities, companies, hospitals, property owners and others may be responsible for failure to maintain property, failure to provide adequate security or failure to supervise employees. Since institutions and property owners carry insurance, third party lawsuits often provide a greater likelihood of financial recovery of any damages award.
Third party liability applies if the individual or institution had some duty to protect the victim from the harm caused, and failed in its duty in one of two ways. Either the individual or institution did something that set in motion a chain of events that caused the victim’s harm, or didn’t do something that would have prevented the chain of events that caused the victim’s harm. For example, a school that hires a teacher with a history of sexual misconduct may be responsible if that teacher sexually assaults a student in the new school. A landlord who fails to adequately secure an apartment building may be responsible if a tenant is attacked by an intruder.
Includes: Discrimination Based on Race, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Religion, Ethnicity, Age, or Disability
Although not punishable as a crime, Massachusetts law allows employees to recover damages from co-workers, supervisors and employers who commit workplace harassment or discrimination.
Examples of workplace harassment and discrimination may include refusal to hire or promote or wrongful termination based on a person’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, or disability. Sexual harassment is considered a form of gender discrimination. In the workplace, there are two kinds of sexual harassment: the insistence upon sexual favors in exchange for promotions or continued work; or the creation of a “hostile work environment,” that is, a work environment characterized by sexual comments, gestures, pornography, and other gender-based conduct that make it uncomfortable for the victim to continue working.
Wrongful death claims may be filed for the unnatural death of anyone resulting from intentional, reckless or negligent conduct. Loved ones of a victim of wrongful death may recover compensation for the loss of the victim’s reasonable income expectations, services, protection, care, assistance, society, companionship, comfort, guidance, counsel and advice. Punitive damages, which are not limited to the actual losses suffered, may also be awarded in these cases.
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