The Harvey Weinsein rape and sexual assault case and verdict captured America’s attention and placed a spotlight on workplace sex abuse and rape. On February 24, 2020 he was found guilty of two felony sex crimes; one rape and one sexual criminal act. He was also acquitted of three serious felony charges.
Weinstein’s case was not unusual for a workplace scenario where a very powerful boss uses his position to sexually abuse women under his influence. Predictably the victims did not act the way “victims are supposed to act” by not immediately reporting and avoiding him all together.[And really how many of us ever act the way society expects us to?] The victims maintained contact with him after their assault or rape and in one case even dated him at a latter time. The defense of course argued that these were all consensual sex acts and that the behavior of the victim proves Weinstien’s innocence.
The Good Rape Verdict
This heavily publicized case and verdict increased the public’s knowledge of sexual abuse. The people paying attention to this trial are all potential jurors in the next case that happens. Awareness about sex abuse and rape has been raised. It has also shown that there can be support both in the world and in the jury pool with victims despite all of the arguments that the defense raised. #Metoo is threading its way through our culture and into our courts.
The nuance of a work environment case like this is also important for the general public to know. Most people can not quit a job immediately and fear reprisal if they say anything about the abuse. The more powerful the man the more influence he has to harm the victim or whistle blower. “Exposed to a fellow employee’s harassment, one can walk away or tell the offender to ‘buzz off.’ A supervisor’s slings and arrows, however, are not so easily avoided… harassment by supervisors is more likely to cause palpable harm and to persist unabated than similar conduct by fellow employees.” Vance v. Ball State University, 570 U.S. 421, 454 (2013) (Ginsburg, J., dissenting). The power/fear dichotomy explains why there were delays in reporting, continued contact and other behaviors “that victims do not have”. This jury was savvy to this concept and found the victims credible, awarding a guilty verdict.
The Bad Rape Verdict
This case was usual due to its size and impact. The work put in by both the prosecutor and defense was far more complex than most cases of this nature. He was a vastly wealthy and publicly known man and it made for a media circus. Most cases do not get this type of attention and most victims do not get this publicized which comes with support and detractors. Of course, just because this verdict came down this way does not mean that all verdicts will be like this case. Maybe too much is being read into the verdict because every case is unique?
The Ugly Truth
Rape, sex abuse and workplace discrimination is far to rampant. Women came forward and put themselves through the spotlight of this trial and he was acquitted on three counts. All victims face this risk when going to trial. No victim wants an acquittal after they bear their truths to strangers in a courtroom when the world is watching. Other victims may look at this and be dissuaded from taking legal action against their abuser. But this risk is inherent in any legal case and rapists will always be rapists unless someone makes them stop.
Hopefully we as a society have learned through this case about the dangers of workplace predators with seemingly endless influence who can fall when the voice the abused stand together. It does seem to show that jurors are willing to understand victims and complex and real and not force them to behave as society expects them. The real answer of the impact of this case comes with time and the cases that follow.
If you are a victim of rape, sex abuse or harassment call for a free consultation about what your legal options are.
