Sexual Misconduct Claims: A Primer for Insurers on Liability and Coverage Issues Involving Sexual Assault, Abuse and Harassment

Author: Neo Tuytel

Published: April, 1998

Hardly a day seems to pass without media coverage of some form of sexual misconduct involving adults or minors, be it assault, abuse or harassment. During the early stages of the preparation of this paper, the Mitsubishi sexual harassment suit, involving as many as 700 women employed at a manufacturing plant, was filed in the Illinois courts. And that is only one of countless examples of sexual misconduct, resulting in legal proceedings, that have been publicized since then, in newspapers and magazines, and on radio, television and the Internet. As with other concerns effecting modern society, ranging from white collar crime to environmental pollution, when civil litigation results, the insurance industry is inevitably effected.

As the 1990s draw to a close, increasing numbers of sexual misconduct cases are being brought before civil courts, and very significant damage awards are being handed down against perpetrators, their employers and others. This paper is intended as a primer on both the underlying liability issues and the availability of insurance coverage for such claims. It is not intended to deal with all of these issues exhaustively, but it will hopefully provide a useful introduction to this rapidly developing area of the law.

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