St. Paul Sexual Assault and Third-Party Liability
One of the many terrible realities of the world that we must face is that sexual assault is a crime that happens all too often. Every 92 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted with every year seeing hundreds of thousands of people suffering through this experience.
Sexual assault can happen to anyone regardless of gender, age, race, or sexual orientation. However, sexual assault does tend to happen to women much more than any other gender with 1 in 5 women vs. 1 in 71 men experiencing rape at some point in their lives. These sexual assaults can occur because of a liable party’s negligence, which can make them the focus of a sexual assault lawsuit that can recover compensation for the damages a sexual assault survivor has suffered.
Minnesota Sexual Assault Lawsuits
Those that have suffered sexual assault may be entitled to seek restitution for the damages that they suffered by pursuing a sexual assault lawsuit against a liable party whose negligence contributed to the assault occurring.
These sexual assault lawsuits focus on proving that negligence of these liable parties through the use of evidence, witnesses, and experts so that a settlement can be negotiated. In the event that a settlement cannot be reached, a case can go to trial, which is a complex and often long process.
Sexual assault lawsuits require a great deal of expertise to handle. Consider enlisting the assistance of the experienced lawyers of Sand Law. Our attorneys focus on handling these kinds of cases and are happy to provide expert legal representation. To contact Sand Law either fill out an online contact form or call our St. Paul office at (651) 291-7263.
Who is Liable for St. Paul Sexual Assaults?
When someone is sexually assaulted, they typically suffer a number of damages that can include medical expenses for injury treatment, therapy costs, and general pain and suffering to name a few. These damages can cripple a person’s finances so they will naturally attempt to seek restitution from the person that perpetrated the sexual assault in the first place.
While this can sometimes work in instances when the sexual assailant has the financial means to handle settling a case like this, many sexual assailants will likely not be viable options to seek compensation from since they will either be in prison, not have the financial means, or may still be at large.
Employers Can Be Liable for Sexual Assault
In this case, a person that has survived a sexual assault will have to look for third-parties that may have been negligent and contributed to a sexual assault occurring. For example, many sexual assaults occur in a person’s place of employment and committed by employers or coworkers.
An employer can be found liable for sexual assault because they failed to take action after an employee has made complaints about a coworker’s inappropriate behavior before matters escalated. In other cases, an employee may have a history of sexual harassment or sexual assault yet an employer took no action to ensure that the risk of sexual assault was eliminated.
Premises Liability for Sexual Assault
Sexual assault has the potential to occur almost anywhere. The sites of many sexual assaults will be owned and operated by a business or landlord of some kind that has a certain duty of care to provide a certain amount of security so that sexual assault does not occur. For example, a person staying at a hotel is sexually assaulted in the parking lot after similar accidents have occurred. The hotel was negligent because they failed to take measures to reduce or eliminate this threat despite being aware of it.
It is important to remember that the owner of the premises is not automatically liable for any sexual harassment that occurs. In order for them to be considered negligent then there needs to be awareness of a condition that allows for the risk of sexual assault and the owner of the premises needs to fail to do anything about it despite having this knowledge. So if a person at a grocery store is sexually assaulted by a total stranger and there is no way that the owner of the store could have any way of predicting such an event then they can’t really be held liable.
St. Paul Sexual Assault Lawsuit Attorneys
Sexual assault hurts not only those that have to go through the experience but also their families and even whole communities. The damages caused by this horrible crime deserve restitution which can be achieved through civil law. The process of seeking this restitution through legal means can often prove to be complex and long for those attempting to handle matters on this own.
Consider Sand Law for your legal representation in this difficult time. Our lawyers focus on handling sexual assault cases and can provide the expertise and resources you will need to improve your chances at receiving fair compensation.
The lawyers of Sand Law will fight aggressively for your right to restitution on your behalf while you focus on handling your personal affairs and recovering from injuries you sustained. Sand Law has been serving the people of St. Paul Minnesota for years and is more than happy to provide you with our services that have recovered satisfying settlements for a number of clients. To contact Sand Law either fill out an online contact form or call our office at 651-291-7263.
SAND LAW LLC
7650 CURRELL BLVD #3140
WOODBURY, MN 55125
Sand Law, LLC