Text messages can show sexual harassment

Posted by marykeating on July 20, 2009 under Sex-based discrimination | Be the First to Comment

An article in today’s National Law Journal discusses the use of text messages as evidence of sexual harassment.  Texting provides an easy means of communication, and it may feel as ephemeral and private as an oral conversation.  Phone calls, however, are not usually recorded, and in this state anyway, can’t be recorded legally without the consent of both sides or a court order.  Text messages leave electronic footprints, and can be forwarded, retrieved, printed, and saved for posterity.

The article discusses a case in which the “he said-she said” nature of many sexual harassment claims unraveled when the harasser’s text messages were revealed, showing that the claimants were indeed telling the truth about the college coach’s inappropriate activity.  Read more here.