Legal Question in Sexual Harassment in Massachusetts

Re: Wife sexually harassed -- No, wife wooed!

Alienation of affection has been abolished by

statute in Massachusetts. There are 63 cases which discuss it.

I've included quotes from two cases below.

What you might eventually have is an adultery

case, HOWEVER, I know of only

one case in the past 100 years which was brought successfully , albeit by

SETTLEMENT because the defendant was a high-profile figure and didn't want any publicity.

I've made boilerplate of the adultery complaint, but have, in all honesty, never had the occasion to bring such a case. If you have the funds to finance it, it could be be fun.

In Fort v. Fort, 12 Mass.App.Ct. 411 (1981):

"It seems beyond dispute that the statutes defining or punishing the crimes of

fornication, adultery, and lewd and lascivious cohabitation have fallen into a

very comprehensive desuetude."

In Ferriter v. Daniel O'Connell's Sons, Inc., 381 Mass. 507, __ n. 7 (1980):

"At common law, a husband was entitled to damages for loss of his wife's

consortium in actions for alienation of affections, criminal conversation,

and intentional or negligent infliction of personal injury. Diaz, supra at

154-155, 302 N.E.2d 555. Before Diaz, a wife could recover for loss of the

husband's consortium in actions for alienation of affections and criminal

conversation, but not for injuries to the husband. Id. at 156, 302 N.E.2d

555. By contrast, a parent has been denied recovery for alienation of his

child's affections. Ronan v. Briggs, 351 Mass. 700, 220 N.E.2d 909 (1966).

And as our previous discussion indicates, a parent could receive damages for

loss of his child's society in an action for abduction, and perhaps in an

action for seduction. However, the parent could not recover such damages in

an action involving intentional or negligent injury to the child. See, e.

g., Grant v. Crook, 468 F.Supp. 404 (D.Mass.1979). But see, e. g., Yordon

v. Savage, 279 So.2d 844, 846 (Fla.1973); Shockley v. Prier, 66 Wis.2d 394,

225 N.W.2d 495 (1975). For compilations of cases and statutes upholding

recovery, see Baxter v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, 19 Cal.3d 461,

464-465 n.1, 138 Cal.Rptr. 315, 563 P.2d 871 (1977). Annot., 69 A.L.R.3d

553, 559-561 (1976). We need not consider today the scope of the parent's

right."

Re: Wife sexually harassed

Yes, there are claims you can bring against him for the damage he's done to you, though it's a bit unusual and it's questionable whether you would get the cooperation of your wife enough to meet your burden of proof.

Evidence is a problem. Proving up your damages (versus 'she would have dumped you anyway') is a bigger problem. The chances of winning seem to me at first glance to not be very great, but if you have the money to pay for the legal work, you'd have a relatively novel case and could set some new precedent and make the news. Even if you lose, the fellow might have to spend a lot of time, money, effort, etc. to defend himself and working with his lawyers, and having his nastiness exposed publicly, will be punishment in itself.