On his U.S. visit, Pope Benedict XVI took pains to publicly declare his shame and embarrassment over the Catholic Church sex abuse scandals.  I have not handled any of the priest sex abuse cases, but I’ve watched them with interest because I’ve handled my share of other sex abuse cases by people in power.

The good part of this is that a reckoning happened, though it took decades and came too late for many who survived the horror of childhood sex abuse.  The reality is that this problem did not magically appear out of nowhere. The complaints about priests were made for years, and Church officials sheltered and shuffled those who had been the subject of complaints.

The reality is that it took lawsuits from within the civil justice system to visit shame and embarrassment upon the Pope.  I suppose that it’s human nature to deny and avoid the responsibility for causing horrifying injuries. Still, but for these lawsuits, we would be living in a continuing era of silence.

When people rant about the evils of the civil justice system, I always want to ask how they think the dark secret of church sex abuse would have been exposed without our system of justice.  Because if they have an answer, I surely want to know.

David Sugerman

Katherine Edson is a hero. She was one of the sedated patients who was molested by Dr. Burleson. Despite his knowledge of the abuse, Dr. Jay Malmquist apparently refused to disclose to the DA Ms. Edson’s identity. So she was kept in the dark for years.

Today’s news brings Ms. Edson’s story into focus. Ms. Edson filed a lawsuit recently and vowed to work for legislation that requires disclosure when a physician knows about sexual abuse of a patient.

For those who might criticize Ms. Edson, it shouldn’t have come to this. Dr. Burleson starts it by molesting anesthetized patients. And of course that is its own set of problems. But it appears that Dr. Malmquist hid the facts. He may have done so to protect either himself or Dr. Burleson. It’s not fair to draw firm conclusions about what happened from claims in pleadings or newspaper stories. Even so, I have no doubt that Ms. Edson is a hero for standing against secrecy.

Regardless of why Dr. Malmquist hid the information, hiding nurtures abuse. The thing about sex abuse is that it lives and breathes and grows through the medium of secrecy. This is especially true when the abuser is a physician. Kudos to this young woman for standing against secrecy.

David Sugerman

The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit in federal court in Portland on behalf of several female employees who claim to have been sexually harassed at Fred Meyer’s Oregon City store. Here is the url to the news report: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23358954

According to news reports, the EEOC claims that Fred Meyer managers sexually harassed several female employees and then retaliated against the employees when they complained.

I suppose some might be critical that the government agency that is supposed to enforce discrimination laws filed suit. But speaking as someone who represents employees, it’s refreshing to see that the EEOC is enforcing employment discrimination laws.

David F. Sugerman