A female employee was raped by a senior executive at her firm.
I am a psychologist in private practice. I recently talked to an employment lawyer because I needed to learn how best to support a client.
She came forward with a complaint to her boss after a senior executive in Vancouver raped her. Her boss appropriately moved the complaint up the chain of command and Human Resources engaged external council to complete a full investigation.
The outcome of the investigation was positive and the executive was let go.
External council recommended the executive be terminated because there was evidence he had harassed my client. He left a trail. A handwritten note in her hotel room. Phone calls and emails when he had no reason to contact her. The woman’s friends also provided text messages that documented what happened as the situation unfolded.
Getting good information from an employment lawyer will help you know your rights.
I received an education from the employment lawyer I spoke with that helped me better support my client.
In this post, I detail the advice the employment lawyer gave me.
Help will be forthcoming if you access the right people. Good information can help you to make better informed decisions.
My client wanted to put the situation behind her so she chose not to press criminal charges against the rapist. She told her boss about the rape because the rapist continued to stalk her, and she needed the harassment to stop.
Sentences printed in italics are reproduced as they appeared in my notes as I spoke with the employment lawyer.
I have changed the name of all parties involved to protect privacy.
I spoke with S about L’s situation.
S said there are a few issues.
He said, L could still complain to the police about the incident. That would arguably be the right thing to do because its a serious crime.
S said, because the incident happened at work, L has an obligation to cooperate with the firm’s investigation internally.
This was when being advised by an employment lawyer became extremely valuable in my eyes. I had not known what L would be legally obligated to do.
S said, she should keep her own notes about what’s happening, what she says, and what people say to her.
S said, if they come to her with a settlement, she should have legal advice before she signs anything, when and if that happens.
Most people don’t know when to engage a lawyer, so this is good information. Don’t sign anything without legal advice. It’s safe to anticipate that a company will act to protect itself, rather than an employee, in similar situations.
S said, she could sue the firm and the individual. This happened in the context of the work environment, so the firm is responsible.
S cautioned, it’s difficult to sue your employer. L would be let go, so she would have to argue constructive dismissal, harassment and sexual assault.
S said, the complicating feature is that they seem to be trying to do something about it. She has to give them an opportunity to let them finish the investigation and see what they do.
L’s firm did seem to be trying to do something about the situation because they had engaged external council as soon they had learned about L’s complaint.
S said, the guy is far away so that solves some of the problem.
S meant that my client’s path would not cross the senior executive’s path on a daily basis because she was in Calgary and the executive was in Vancouver.
S said, L can take short-term leave. Its only been three weeks since she complained so she needs to let things play out and give the firm a chance to sort things out.
S said, L likes her job, so she wants to stay at the firm. On the other hand, the simplest solution would be to find a new job and quit the firm.
S said, It’s not fair. She’s done nothing wrong. But it would solve a lot of issues. It would remove a lot of stress.
S continued, being unfair doesn’t mean its a bad option.
There’s a lot to unpack in these last three sentences. Nothing about the situation was fair for L. It was good to have S recognize this fact, and to also be realistic.
S asked, does she want to go to the police? It’s a big decision and impacts a lot of the other stuff.
I shared that L didn’t want to go to the police. I have witnessed what a woman can go through when she charges a rapist. I will stand beside a woman whatever she decides to do in similar situations.
S said, I deal with these problems relatively frequently.
S spoke volumes when he told me this.
S said, It’s hard. I don’t want to mislead her. It’s not simple. There’s no really good solution.
S said, I would worry about the rapist and his threat that he has access to L’s office. Given what he did when he had just met her, and that he’s been thinking about her since.
S said, that’s a reason to go to the police. It’s a reason to take a short-term leave of absence.
I appreciated hearing S’s voice of experience as we discussed the degree of risk L was in, having complained to her boss and upper management about the rapist’s behaviour.
S said, these people are so unpredictable. He could become vindictive and say how dare you cause a problem for me. I’ll show you. Pulling in the police is the best way to get some protection in place. If he knows the police are involved, that’s likely to help her.
S said, I see this fairly regularly. It’s not unusual.
S said, she doesn’t need a criminal lawyer. The police will help her.
S said, if she wants to get a restraining order, its hard because they work for the same company. She needs some employment advice.
By employment advice, he meant L needed to talk to an employment lawyer about her options. L was a junior employee and the rapist was a senior executive.
S had talked about L’s option to leave her job. He explored the other side of the situation. He said, she can continue to work for the firm. But with the senior executive, it’s manageable but it could be awkward. They will run into each other in future.
S continued, the firm may want her to move on. He’s probably more valuable to them than she is. To avoid future problems. She may want to get some compensation out of it.
I had been wondering whether the company would let L go because the senior executive was valuable to the firm’s operations.
S said, the firm appears to be taking it seriously. These days, companies do. The problem is, if he’s as valuable to the firm as we think he is, that will influence how they deal with this.
S said, having a lawyer would help her know what to do and give her some comfort. The lawyer could answer questions as they come up.
We concluded the call. S said, she can contact me. I can talk to her and set her up with someone at the office.
I was surprised by this sentence because I had thought that S would work directly with my client. But then I realized that S’s firm employs a number of employment lawyers who work with women in similar situations.
Exactly how many women have to be raped in the workplace to keep these lawyers employed? I haven’t answered this question yet.
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I hope you have found the content of this post helpful. Please contact me if you would like to discuss your own case with me. I will be happy to help.
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Dr Patricia Turner, PhD, Registered psychologist in private practice in Calgary, Alberta