Monday, November 21, 2011

Lawmakers to Cancel the 2010 Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Limitations

Under the 2010 sexual harassment law approved in South Dakota, child victims of sexual harassment are only given a limited period to time to file a lawsuit.

This new law limits the victims at the age of forty to file for a sexual harassment that occurred either few years ago or way back from his or her childhood.

Furthermore, in this law, victims over 40 – years old may only file a sexual harassment lawsuit against the one who committed the crime and not against any institution or member of an institution, if the abuse was done in a workplace, school or workplace.

Actually, approval of this controversial law was only led by a representative of one of the school institutions in South Dakota which, during that time was flooded with sexual harassment lawsuits filed by some of its former students who were allegedly abused by the school teachers in the said school institution many years ago. Therefore, those sexual harassment complainants are already in their 30s and 40s when they finally decided to file for a lawsuit. Their lawsuits were seeking for compensation from the alleged abusers and from the school institution that had ignored the sexual harassment occurred.

Allegedly, said law was applied in order to reduce the school institution’s account to be paid in regards to the lawsuits filed against them.

As an opponent of the controversial sexual harassment limit law, South Dakota legislator Steve Hickey drafted a bill that would cancel the 2010 law and go back to the federal government’s usual sexual harassment law.

According to Hickey, the controversial law entirely overlooks the sexual harassment reality towards children. He also asserts that it takes a lot of time or even years before a child abuse victim has the courage to bring out their emotional stress.

Advocates of the said 2010 law appeals the law also gives sexual harassment victims enough time to file a lawsuit. They also stressed out the law is far less strict than the other federal laws in other states wherein sexual harassment lawsuits arising from childhood incidents can only be filed under the age of thirty of the victim.

So far, the bill has been applied and still waiting for approval. Definitely it would take a little longer before lawmakers decide whether the new applied bill for sexual harassment be approved or denied. It’s a very complicated issue and weighing out its pros con seems so difficult since emotional and psychological aspects of victims are involved on the matter.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Senior Student’s Bright Future Ended in Tragic Automobile Accident

A senior student from Brattleboro Union High School was killed in an automobile accident while six others were seriously injured.

The accident occurred last Sunday at around 2 o’clock in the afternoon when a Subaru Outback driven by senior student Daniel Bliss, 17 – years old together with Rita Corbin was struck from the side by a Mercury SUV while they were approaching Route 10 South coming from Mount Herman Station Road.

The collision created a strong impact that even air bags didn’t work in both vehicles. Bliss instantly died in the accident scene while Corbin was brought to University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center where she was treated for the serious injuries she sustained. Firefighters had to cut the Subaru’s roof before they were able to remove Corbin from the vehicle.

On the other hand, five other people from the other vehicle were injured. The SUV driver Nicole Trovato, 19 – years old and her 4 passengers were transported to the same hospital where Bliss and Corbin were brought and were also treated for their minor personal injury sustained. They were released shortly.

Bliss family and the principal together with the other students from the said school were in deep sorrow and mourning for Bliss’ death. According to them, Bliss is a good student. They were also praying for the fast recovery of Corbin and the five others involved in the accident but they were released in a short time.

According to reports, the glare from the sun may have been a factor in the said automobile accident. Initially, the driver of the SUV admitted to police officers conducting the investigation that she never saw Bliss pull out onto the road. However, the investigation is still going on.

It’s either solar radiance had caused the SUV driver’s blindness to Bliss’ car or Bliss’ car had exceeded the maximum speed limit. The maximum speed limit in US is varies according to the type of vehicle and in locations. Commonly, speed limit for cars is 80 mph during day time and 65 mph during night. Speed limit for trucks at all times is 55 mph. In school zones, maximum speed only limits to 25 mph.