NCJ Number
174390
Journal
Women and Criminal Justice Volume: 10 Issue: 1 Dated: 1998 Pages: 91-111
Date Published
1998
Length
21 pages
Annotation
After discussing the use of the plaintiff's sexual history in sexual harassment civil suits and the 1994 legislation that restricts it, this paper cites instances of the use of plaintiff's sexual history in product liability cases and discusses how rules of evidence might be modified, along with other measures, to prevent this injustice.
Abstract
Although the use of the sexual history of plaintiffs as evidence in the defense of a sexual harassment case may not be introduced unless the probative value outweighs the prejudicial effect, civil procedural rules continue to allow sexual history evidence to be introduced at the discovery and trial stages in product liability cases. Nearly half of the punitive damages awarded to women in product liability cases between 1965 and 1990 were in regard to medical-related products, primarily in the areas of reproduction or cosmetic surgery. If a corporate attorney can claim that there could be a possible connection between sexual activity and the injury (a possibility with products related to reproduction), this can open a window of opportunity to probe the sexual history and character of the female plaintiff. The conduct of A.H. Robins in defending the Dalkon Shield IUD is one of the most blatant and widely criticized uses of sexual history in corporate product liability litigation. This paper argues for an extension of the restrictions of the use of sexual history evidence in civil sexual harassment cases to civil product liability litigation. 6 notes, 14 case citations, and 44 references