A former Colorado District Attorney was sentenced to one year in prison and two months in jail for sexually harassing women in his office.
In 2010, Myrl Serra was charged with unlawful sexual contact against three women in his office, extortion and official misconduct.
Court documents detail different incidents of the unlawful sexual contact. In one incident, one of Serra’s employees asked is she could leave early, he responded by unzipping his pants and exposing himself. The woman alleges that Serra told her, “she could do him a favor and he would do her a favor.”
Sexual harassment attorneys refer to this as quid pro quo harassment.
The woman also stated that Serra grabbed her by the wrists and forced her to touch his penis. The force was strong enough to leave marks on the woman’s wrist.
The woman also told investigators that Serra requested that she grant him sexual favors at least 25 times since 2007, even though he knew she was married. He even asked her to masturbate him in his office.
Serra resigned as District Attorney in January 2011 and lost his license to practice law. Serra used his powerful position to gain sexual favors.
Sexual harassment attorneys are familiar with how often power drives people to act in unethical and illegal ways.
Harassers often coerce people into behavior they would not normally engage in because they fear the loss of their jobs. This is called retaliation and with the help of a
sexual harassment lawyer you can file a civil lawsuit against the people who use retaliation to silence harassment complaints.
