Recently, in a Transvaginal Mesh Suit Settlement case, a major manufacturer of women’s panties agreed to a large monetary settlement for allowing their designer vagina pads to be sold unisex. The reason? Unisex “pads” can be used by any gender, so the company was accepting “all customers”. Now that ruling may put you out of a job.
In 1992, The United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Griswold v. Deaver.
The court held that laws requiring employers to accommodate their employees’ personal beliefs guaranteed them the right to refuse to hire someone based on their sexual orientation. The decision in Griswold essentially said that people have the right to exercise their personal beliefs when it comes to sex, whether they are married or not. This includes their reproductive rights. The ruling in this case, as the name suggests, made it possible for anyone who has been discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation to file a discrimination lawsuit.
The reason the company was ordered to pay a large settlement is because it discriminated against its female employees.
Many of the female employees were working under demanding and harmful conditions at the time of filing a complaint. When their sexual harassment suit went to trial, the court found that the company had engaged in sexual harassment by forcing one of its female employees into a headlock and forcing her to go through what seemed like an innocent and comfortable sexual encounter with her boss in order to get a promotion. In fact, the company’s owner maintained that his employees were only asking for what they wanted, which was more time with their significant other and would never have had sex with anyone else in the work place.
After being forced to go on trial, the company finally settled the case out of court.
However, before the case was settled, the owner was asked to submit to a polygraph test. The results of this test indicated that he in fact had engaged in sexual harassment by forcing one of his female employees into a headlock and forcing her to have intercourse with him. The court found his actions to be criminal and sentenced him to one month of jail time, plus a hefty fine.
The transvaginal mesh lawsuit settlement was eventually overturned, but not until three years later.
During the course of the appeal process, the plaintiff lost her lawsuit against the HMO. The appeals court allowed her to file a new lawsuit against the company, but only after she had to drop her original complaint against the HMO. The court also enjoined the HMO from discriminating against future plaintiffs. All in all, it seems the courts have been quite friendly to the plaintiff’s efforts to obtain compensation for her sexual abuse at the hands of the HMO.
If you have been injured as a result of being forced into a vaginal mesh lawsuit, you may be inclined to pursue a lawsuit on your own behalf.
If you have an attorney working on your behalf, however, you should be aware that the vast majority of plaintiffs are unable to afford to pursue their lawsuits on their own because they do not come up with the money needed to finance their lawsuits. For those who are able to pursue a lawsuit on their own merit, there is a good chance that the courts will eventually find in favor of the plaintiff and provide monetary compensation for their pain and suffering.
