Another dick pic case walked into my office last week. Apparently it’s the new normal.
It makes so much sense when you look at it from a generational perspective. You’ve got the millenials (those born between the 80s and late 90s). During their teenaged and college years, the millenials texted, sexted, online dated, and were much more sexually liberated than their parents. They just had much more access to sex and its participants. Their smartphones, coupled with internet hookup sites (and reruns of the Jersey Shore) accelerated the entire hookup process.
And in lieu of foreplay or “wining and dining” (expect cross eyes from any millennial if you mention either of these concepts)–a sexy Snapchat photo coupled with a 140-character flirty message was all it took to seal the deal or let them know you cared after the hookup.
Now the millenials are all grown up and are in the working world. And from what I’m seeing in my Connecticut sexual harassment cases, they are driving the Gen Xers—especially the divorce (and married) guys out of their minds!
And that’s where the dick pic problem comes in…
What starts out as harmless flirtation and banter usually escalates when there’s alcohol and sexual chemistry at play. It’s usually a guy thing unfortunately, but we have seen female aggressors as well. Many of these guys just can’t control themselves. Even the smartest and most successful captains of industry succumb to the thrill of sending a snapchat dick pic or receiving a flirtatious photo from a potential girlfriend or hookup.
But when you start sending sexually charged photos and texts to female colleagues at work, you are opening the door to a MASSIVE lawsuit. One that could get you sued publicly. Even if the texts and pics are sent consensually, you can still be sued if you are carrying on with an employee of yours who is subordinate to you in rank or title, even if she is NOT a direct report to you, or works in a completely different department or office location within your company.
Ask any of the best Stamford or Greenwich Connecticut sexual harassment lawyers or attorneys and they will confirm, Connecticut sexual harassment law assumes that any kind of sexual influence of a superior over a subordinate is implicitly harassing, intimidating and grounds for a Connecticut hostile work environment lawsuit.
We also hear from our clients—especially our married clients—that the dick pics, sex videos, or sexting photos were definitely deleted. Wrong!
Most of the time, they’re still recoverable and are used in Connecticut civil sexual harassment lawsuits against our hedge fund, finance and corporate executive clients. Remember that iPhone iMessaging is a cloud-based communications application. Just because photos are deleted off the phone doesn’t mean they aren’t still hanging around in the cloud. Same with other online messenger services like the Whatsapp and Kik messenger applications. The top Connecticut sexual harassment lawyers see these photos get retrieved and dug up from these clouds ALL THE TIME.
Many of the best Connecticut restraining order and sexual harassment lawyers and law firms frequently see dick pics and sexting / texting photos aggressively used in civil restraining order hearings. As I reported in March 2015, Connecticut enacted new restraining order laws for victims of cyberstalking and sexual assault. That’s where we’re seeing cyberstalking photos and dicks picks being used most—in restraining order and divorce hearings. And most critically, these photos are being admitted into these hearings as evidence in the open public record. Which means that there’s tremendous leverage for victims of sexual harassment to settle their cases with their alleged perpetrators before any of these photos (and the oral testimony that accompanies them) gets into the public record.
With over 40 years of collective legal experience, the Mark Sherman Law Firm has litigated Connecticut and New York sexual harassment cases from both sides. So if you are being harassed by a boss with dick pics, or if you’re being accused of harassing an employee, colleague or boyfriend / girlfriend, give the sexual harassment lawyers at the Mark Sherman Law Firm a call today. Our goal is to resolve your case quickly, cost-effectively, and with sensitivity and confidentiality. You can read Avvo.com certified reviews from our former clients who have either achieved successful settlements or for whom we’ve put fires out quickly, saving their jobs and families. Call us for a consultation at (203) 358-4700.
