Articles Posted in Sexual Abuse

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Every instance of Florida sexual assault of a patient by a healthcare provider is an egregious breach of trust and professional ethics. For doctors, it’s a violation of the sacred Hippocratic Oath to “first, do no harm.” But can it be considered “medical malpractice?”Florida civil sexual assault attorney Palm Beach

Medical malpractice is a type of civil claim. But not all civil claims against healthcare providers or institutions are necessarily for malpractice.

Our West Palm Beach civil trial lawyers are experienced in the successful handling of both civil sexual assault cases and medical malpractice claims in South Florida. While each case is fact-specific, we generally frame patient sexual assaults as torts of general negligence rather than medical malpractice.

For one thing, it can be argued that sexual assault does not “arise out of” the administration of healthcare, for which a breach of duty is governed by applicable standards of care. It’s an intentional act by the accused perpetrator, and one that may have been reasonably foreseeable/preventable had the facility and/or employer exercised a reasonable degree of basic oversight/security.

Beyond this, Florida medical malpractice claims are held to much more rigorous standards for proof burdens, allowable evidence, and timelines. There are a lot more legal and procedural hurdles to clear just to get your foot in the door with a medical malpractice claim compared to other types of civil claims. Prevailing in medical malpractice cases also requires more time, resources, and legal expertise.

Defendants in medical malpractice cases also may not be required to pay out as much as those sued for ordinary negligence. While Florida has no caps on medical malpractice injury economic damages (compensation for things like medical bills and loss of income related to medical negligence), it does cap non-economic damages for things like anxiety, mental anguish, trauma, pain and suffering, and loss of companionship. The cap is set at $500,000 for practitioner defendants, such as doctors and nurses, and $750,000 for non-practitioner defendants, such as hospitals and healthcare systems (assuming the victim wasn’t left dead or in a vegetative state, in which case, the damage award goes up slightly). Non-economic damages are often a big part of damages sought in Florida civil sexual assault cases.

The end result of requiring these of sexual assault to be filed as medical malpractice is that victims have have a tougher time filing and establishing liability. They’ll pay more to do so, wait longer for justice, and likely be compensated less.

Recently, reporters with ProPublica and The Salt Lake Tribune reported on this phenomenon in Utah. The expose detailed the nearly-five-decade career of a doctor who faced civil lawsuits by 94 former patients who accused him of sexual assault. Several of those claims have been dismissed because a lower court judge has held they should be filed as medical malpractice claims – and the filings fall short of the more stringent standards for such cases. The Utah Supreme Court has granted review of appeals by several of those plaintiffs. But if the lower court’s ruling stands, it will also mean foreclosing on many future claims, because the statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims in those states is shorter than for ordinary negligence. It will also mean that even successful cases would be subject to the medical malpractice damage caps.

Here in Florida, courts have ruled both ways.

Florida Court Rulings on Health Care Sexual Assaults as Medical Malpractice Claims

Some examples: Continue reading

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Over the last few years, there have been thousands of reported rideshare sexual assault allegations across the country – a fair number of those in Florida. Filing civil sexual assault lawsuits against rideshare companies like Uber or Lyft is somewhat complicated by the fact that drivers are not employees, but independent contractors. As such, they can not be held vicariously liable for the actions of employees for wrongdoing on-the-job.

However, as our Palm Beach sexual assault attorneys can explain, they can be held responsible for direct negligence with respect to inadequate background checks and failure to warn passengers of a driver with a violent criminal record.Palm Beach rideshare sexual assault lawyer There may in fact be several legal theories upon which you may base a successful claim against Uber, Lyft, or other rideshare company for failure to protect against sexual assault. This is true for drivers as well as passengers (as both have reportedly been attacked).

Two recent Florida rideshare liability lawsuits allege systemic shortcomings with respect to adequate background checks of drivers. One of those cases involves sexual assault, the other identity theft. (Even though the alleged crimes were dissimilar, the underlying issue with prior criminal records can establish a pattern.)

In one of those cases, a young woman in Tampa alleges an Uber driver sexually assaulted her after she scheduled a ride home after a night out. She was intoxicated, she said, and did the right thing by calling for an Uber driver to get her home safely. But according to the sheriff’s office, he did not take her home. Instead, he sexually assaulted her over a period of 4 hours. Eventually, he took her to the hotel where her friends were staying. Her friends said she returned with undergarments askew and having soiled herself. The following morning, after piecing together what happened, she went to a rape crisis center and underwent a sexual assault exam. When later questioned by police, the driver – who was twice the victim’s age – admitted to engaging in sexual intercourse with her, but insisted it was consensual. However, she said she was so impaired she has no memory of what happened. She did not consent – and could not have consented given how impaired she was.

The driver was arrested for sexual battery and has pleaded not guilty. But the Florida civil sexual assault lawsuit against Uber alleges the driver should never have been working for that company to begin with – especially knowing he’d be entrusted with the safety of vulnerable passengers absent any direct supervision. Continue reading

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The chairman of a pro golf tour and his wife have been named as defendants in a Florida sexual assault lawsuit filed on behalf of a teen girl who alleges she was sexually assaulted twice at their home during an alcohol-fueled teen party. The high school student, a friend of the chairman’s stepdaughter, reportedly attended the outdoor pool party in September 2021 at their Palm Beach Gardens mansion, where she says alcohol was being freely served to minors.Florida sexual assault lawsuit underage party

At one point, according to her lawsuit, the girl says she was sexually assaulted by two individuals (identified only by their initials in the filing), who were also both underage. The assaults reportedly took place on a grassy area near the pool. At the time, she was allegedly unable to even stand on her own due to intoxication.

The girl and her parents accuse the homeowners of negligence and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. They allege the hosts breached their duty of care by not safeguarding or preventing injury to her health and wellbeing – including the abusive conduct of other minor invitees that was at least partially the direct result of having alcohol unlawfully served to them.

Suing for Florida Sex Assault Using Social Host Liability Law

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Attorneys fighting for victims of decades-old child sexual abuse, the March 2023 Third District Court of Appeals’ ruling in Doe v. Archdiocese of Miami, Inc. represented a key victory for abuse survivors. The appellate panel gave the green light to a plaintiff pursuing a civil lawsuit against the Catholic church for liability of a priest’s alleged sexual abuse – despite the passage of more than 20 years. However, the archdiocese is now asking for the Florida Supreme Court to intervene and have the case dismissed, calling it “a case of exceptional importance for employers.” Palm Beach sexual abuse lawyer church sex abuse lawsuit

Plaintiff in the case is a man who came forward about the sexual abuse he suffered on dozens of occasions from the time he was 7 until he was 9 by a priest. The complaint – which is against the church and does not name the priest – alleges the archdiocese was aware that the priest in question had an extensive history of child sexual abuse dating back to at least the late 1960s. The church allegedly not only concealed prior allegations, but continued to place this priest in positions where he still had access to children. Nothing was done to prevent further abuse, the complaint alleges.

The 3rd DCA’s ruling held that the alleged victim could not sue the church for negligence because there is a 4-year statute of limitations on negligence claims, per F.S. 95.11(9). (Or at least, there was. A recent change to the law has shortened that window down to just 2 years.) However, the court did reverse the circuit court’s dismissal of a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress against the church, per F.S. 95.11(7), which references intentional tort claims based on abuse. That provision of the law was passed in 2010 law and lifted certain statute of limitation restrictions on cases that involve sexual battery of victims younger than 16. Rather than a hardline 4-year statute of limitations, claims brought forth on this basis may commence whichever of the following occurs latest:

  • Within 7 years after the victim reaches the age of majority OR
  • Within 4 years after the injured person leaves the dependency of the abuser OR
  • Within 4 years of discovering both the injury and causal relationship between the injury of abuse.

Finding that the claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress was rooted in the intentional tort of abuse, the 3rd DCA applied this statute, and concluded the plaintiff’s intentional tort claim survived until 2017, which was 7 years after he turned 18.

Furthermore, the court rejected the Catholic church’s argument that such claims could be only made against an institution, rather than an individual.

As our West Palm Beach sexual abuse lawyers can explain, most civil sexual abuse claims are against institutions – employers, schools, property owners, sports organizations, and churches.

Why? Continue reading

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If a school principal opened the doors to adult sexual predators and gave them the means and access to regularly communicate with students on school grounds – there would be no question of legal liability for whatever harm was inflicted on those children as a result. But what if the means and access was via a school laptop? Do schools bear a legal duty to monitor district-owned electronic devices to prevent predators from using them to gain access to kids?Florida sexual abuse lawsuit school district laptops

Plaintiffs in a newly-filed Florida sexual abuse lawsuit against a county school board say: Yes.

According to the Miami Herald, a mother is suing a Florida school district because she said her daughter met a predator online while using a school-issued laptop. The 11-year-old was allegedly groomed, kidnapped, and sexually assaulted by the man who first made contact with her through a social media app that she used regularly on her school laptop. The laptops were issued when the school district shifted to remote learning during the pandemic. During this time, there were reportedly on protections to block social media on the devices.

Early into the start of the 2020-2021 school year, the girl was contacted by a 26-year-old man on social media. According to the civil complaint, the man expressed a desire to have a romantic/sexual relationship with her, said he wanted her to move into his home, and he planned to tell everyone that she was a young relative of his. On more than one occasion, he tried to get her to leave home, promised to buy her a new phone, and asked her to provide illicit photographs of herself. Again – all of this was done on her school-issued laptop, on school days, and during school hours. Continue reading

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Over the past several years, numerous high-profile sexual assault and sexual abuse lawsuits have raised public awareness about both the realities and long-term consequences of this trauma. It’s part of the reason so many states have passed look-back laws or lifted the statute of limitations for claims stemming from alleged child sex abuse. The recent liability verdict in a civil case sex abuse lawsuit against former President Donald Trump by prominent writer/advice columnist E. Jean Carroll after a decades-old dressing room encounter has raised a lot of questions about why this claim was filed now, the grounds on which Carroll prevailed, and what it means for other alleged victims of sexual assault and abuse – particularly those whose abuse happened decades ago. sex abuse lawyer West Palm Beach

For those who are unfamiliar with the case, Carroll alleges Trump raped her in a department store dressing room in the mid 1990s. She first spoke out about what happened in 2019, while Trump was president. (Prior to his election, dozens of women accused him of sexual harassment and/or assault occurring over decades, but none had resulted in criminal charges or a civil liability verdict.)

Trump denied her claims, said he’d never met her, did not find her attractive, and called her a liar. She sued him for defamation. When New York state passed the Adult Survivors Act, giving sex abuse victims a one-year window to sue attacker for assaults that took place years ago, Carroll filed a second claim accusing Trump of rape, sexual abuse, and defamation. (Her claim, filed 30 minutes after the law went into effect, was the first under the law to go to trial.)

At trial, other women testified to similar assaults by Trump around the same time frame. A jury ultimately found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation, and ordered Trump to pay both compensatory and punitive damages of $5 million.

As longtime West Palm Beach civil trial lawyers representing survivors of sexual assault and abuse, it’s important to address some of those issues that appear to be causing some confusion in public discussions on these types of cases.

Let’s start with one of the most pervasive questions:

Why now?

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Recently, an investigation by CNN spotlighted systematic issues with sexual assaults involving merchant shipping crews and the U.S. Coast Guard personnel responsible for policing them. As longtime civil trial lawyers representing survivors of sexual assault in South Florida, we’ve seen some confusion about how whether U.S. military branches can be sued in civil court for sexual assaults – and by whom. Florida sexual assault lawsuit

Most Florida sexual assault lawsuits name third parties as defendants. These are businesses or organizations or government agencies or employers that had a duty to protect the victim and failed to do so. This negligence is grounds for sexual assault survivors to pursue monetary damages for physical injuries, medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, etc.

With the U.S. military, it’s a little trickier – depending on who is trying to pursue damages. Sexual assault has been a pervasive and long-standing problem in all military branches. According to the 2021 U.S. Department of Defense Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military, the number of sexual assault reports spiked by 13 percent compared to the previous year. Although officials claim steady increases in sexual assault reporting indicate that survivors are more comfortable coming forward, anonymous surveys of troops don’t bear that out. They show that sexual abuse and unwanted sexual contact is on the rise, but fewer are reporting it, and fewer perpetrators are legally punished. Among female service members, 8 percent reported experiencing unwanted sexual contact in 2021. For men, it’s 1.5 percent.

Suing the Military for Sexual Assault is Complicated

Historically, military members haven’t been able to sue for sexual assault that occurred while they were serving. As our West Palm Beach sexual assault lawyers can explain, the U.S. government has for more than 70 years leaned on the Feres doctrine, which bars troops from seeking monetary damages in civil court for injuries sustained in active duty service. The one exception is medical malpractice.

However, that may be changing. Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in Splestoser v. Hyten et al that the Feres doctrine (named for a U.S. Supreme Court ruling) was intended only to prevent troops from suing the federal government over injuries sustained in training and combat. It was not, the three-judge appellate panel ruled, intended to apply to sexual assault – because sexual assault doesn’t “conceivably serve any military purpose.”

The Splestoser case definitely moves the needle, but that doesn’t mean the legal floodgates are entirely open. The plaintiff in Splestoser is suing her attacker directly (for an intentional tort) as opposed to the U.S. military directly for some sort of negligence. The alleged assailant is arguing this was under the military’s jurisdiction. His argument is that he shouldn’t be held liable, the military should. But either way, this case opens the door potentially to allowing sexual assault survivors to sue the military and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). The ruling sets a precedent, but there’s no guarantee other federal appellate courts will decide the same. (This was in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal, while Florida is part of the 11th Circuit.) It’s possible other circuits could decide differently in the face of a similar challenge. If that happens, the conflict will have to be certified to the U.S. Supreme Court for resolution.

This brings us to the case highlighted by CNN involving a military academy student aboard a marine merchant ship overseen by the U.S. Coast Guard. (Worth noting: The DOD reports sexual assaults and harassment are on the rise in military academies as well. There were 155 formal reports made during the 2021-2022 school year, though officials suspect hundreds more went unreported.) This case involves a U.S. Merchant Marine Academy student (attending a federal service academy), a private marine merchant, and an employee for that private marine merchant. The U.S. Coast Guard is under fire here because it is supposed to be responsible for law and order on this commercial ship and thousands of others in American ports and waterways. Further, the U.S. Coast Guard vets mariners and offers continued monitoring and enforcement of misconduct on land or while on-the-job. A serious offense could result in the marine merchant being stripped of their credentials. If a merchant mariner is accused of a crime on a U.S. flag ship, it’s the U.S. Coast Guard’s law enforcement division responsible for investigating and pursuing criminal charges. The Coast Guard also has a whole separate administrative division with the duty to investigate misconduct and strip a mariner of credentials for egregious offenses. Continue reading

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If you’re filing a Florida sexual assault lawsuit in civil court, there are a number of potential legal hurdles about which you should be aware. West Palm Beach sexual assault lawyer

Before diving into the details, we want to make it clear that the point here isn’t to discourage anyone considering a sex abuse lawsuit. Rather, our goal is to empower. As West Palm Beach attorneys for sexual abuse survivors, we’re fully cognizant of the fact that our clients have already been through so much. Part of our job is to make sure that those clients – and potential clients – have all they need to make informed choices about how best to proceed when it comes to a sexual assault civil lawsuit. That includes carefully explaining some of the legal snags that can stymie a case.

Why File a Florida Sexual Assault Lawsuit in Civil Court?

More than half of women and nearly 1 in 3 men experience sexual violence involving physical contact at some point in their lifetime. Not all incidents are “violent,” but no less damaging for that. (Sometimes it’s even more traumatic when a victim is made to believe they are somehow complicit or responsible.)

Accountability in these cases is often elusive in criminal courts. Even if the alleged abuser or attacker is prosecuted and convicted, the ability of the criminal justice system to compensate survivors is limited. Criminal cases may include an offer of restitution. However, unlike in a civil case, the purpose with this financial compensation isn’t solely to compensate the victim. It’s also intended to serve the rehabilitative goals that the criminal justice system has for defendants – and this doesn’t always align with what’s in the best interests of the victim.

But whatever happens on that end of things, there may be grounds to pursue liability in a civil case – typically from third parties.

Though usually not a direct legal action against the perpetrator, third-party sex abuse cases can be an effective way for victims to obtain:

  • Validation and accountability from third parties that had a responsibility to do more to keep you safe or warn you of the danger.
  • Financial compensation for the very real and very significant impact this has had on your life.
  • A safer future for those in similar scenarios. When third-parties are compelled to pay for failing to protect against the risk of sexual assault when they had a responsibility to do so, they  – and others – will take greater care to do better. Defendants in these cases are often property owners, school administrators, sports teams, and employers. People deserve to be safe in these spaces, and successful third-party liability sexual abuse lawsuits can help achieve that.

It’s true that the probability of winning – and actually collecting a financial judgment – is central to the question of whether pursuing a civil sex abuse case is a prudent choice. But it’s not the only consideration. Our attorneys can help walk you through your objectives, concerns, and strategies to overcome common legal issues.

What Obstacles May Stand in the Way of Justice?

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Sexual assault is traumatic under any circumstance. When it happens at work, it can upend your entire life.Florida workplace sexual assault

Survivors lose not only their peace, sense of safety, and restful nights – they often also lose their jobs. Sometimes that’s because of retaliation. Other times, it’s because the survivor can’t bear to be in the same space where they were violated. Coping with rape trauma syndrome is a misery on its own, let alone having to slog through it while struggling financially, trying to land a new job, and perhaps forgoing work they once found meaningful.

Research published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine reveals approximately 5.6 percent of women (about 7 million) in the U.S. have reported sexual violence by a workplace-related perpetrator at some point in their lives. Of those, about 1 million reported being raped. Another 1 million said they were sexually coerced. Some were just teenagers. Only about 2 percent reported what happened to police. Given that rape is a hugely underreported crime, we can reasonably presume the actual impact of this issue is even more staggering.

Employers aren’t expected to have crystal balls and anticipate every scenario. However, they are expected to use diligence in hiring. They are expected to provide adequate supervision and security for employees. They’re expected to ensure their facilities are reasonably safe. They should have written sexual harassment policies – provided to workers – clearly explaining what to do if they are a victim of sexual harassment or assault. They are expected to take prompt, effective action if harassment, assault, or abuse is reported. They are expected to refrain from retaliating against the victim for reporting what happened. Unfortunately, some employers fail to take the bare minimum steps needed to protect potentially vulnerable workers.

Workplace Sexual Violence is an Ongoing, Serious Problem

Among just a few of the more recent, high-profile workplace sexual assault claims: Continue reading

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Patients should have every confidence when they see a doctor, dentist, surgeon, or other health care provider that they’ll be treated with professionalism, respect, and dignity. If a patient is sexually assaulted by a healthcare provider, it’s more than a violation of one’s body, the provider’s professional ethics, or even the law. It’s a major breach of the significant trust central to the patient-provider relationship.Florida sexual assault lawyer

It is important for victimized patients to understand: It is NOT your fault. Even in cases where some degree of attraction may be mutual, the power imbalance between patients and providers puts the onus firmly on the health care provider to draw clear personal boundaries. If those lines are crossed, the provider may be held to account by their employer, professional licensing board, and (where applicable) criminal prosecutors. Impacted patients can also seek accountability through the civil court system. There may be potential claims made directly against the provider as well as their employer and/or the facility where the assault or abuse occurred.

As longtime advocates for Florida victims of sexual assault, our West Palm Beach sexual abuse lawyers provide survivors with insight on their legal options. It’s worth noting that civil cases can be pursued regardless of whether the state or federal government decides to pursue criminal charges.

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