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Sex And The Workplace: "Consenting" Adolescents And A Conflict Of Laws, Jennifer Ann Drobac

Washington Law Review

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, sexual harassment of adolescents at work may constitute a serious, but to date largely undocumented, problem. Courts respond inconsistently to adolescent "consent" in sexual harassment employment cases. This Article reviews state criminal statutory rape law, federal civil law, and tort law to reveal the conflicting legal treatment of adolescent capacity to consent to sex. It highlights conflicts not only between the criminal and civil systems, but also between sister states' laws and laws within states. For example, this Article finds that despite criminal sexual abuse laws, courts permitted employers to use adolescent "consent" …