Lora Levett
Assistant Professor of Criminology
Turlington 3336
P.O. Box 117330
Gainesville, FL 32611
352-392-0265, ext 205
llevett@ufl.edu
Lora M. Levett, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Criminology
Jurors' Decisions in Sexual Harassment Cases
In this research program, we are exploring how the jury makes decisions in sexual harassment cases. The type of injury experienced by a plaintiff is quite different than the injuries experienced in other types of civil trials. Specifically, in most other civil trials, the injury is physical and can be readily observed by jurors. In sexual harassment trials, the injury is most often psychological. To relate the damage experienced by a plaintiff to the jury, it seems logical that a plaintiff could call an expert. However, certain litigation strategies may deter plaintiffs from doing so. Thus, the jury may be soley responsible for assessingthe injury of a plaintiff, and if the defendant is found liable, awarding damages based on this injury. This series of studies is testing whether jurors are effective decision makers in sexual harassment trials. Do they accurately perceive the damage experienced by the plaintiff?What affects the amount and type of damages jurors are likely to award in a sexual harassment case?
Publications and Recent Conference Presentations on Jurors' Decisions in Sexual Harassment Cases:
Cass,
S.A., Levett, L.M., & Kovera, M. B. (in press). The effects of harassment severity and organizational
behavior on damage awards. Behavioral
Sciences and the Law.
Greathouse,
S.M., Levett, L.M., & Kovera, M.B. (2009). Sexual harassment. J. Lieberman
& D. Krauss (Eds.), Psychology in the
Courtroom. Ashgate Publishing.
Levett, L. M., & Kovera, M. B., Goodman-Delahunty, J. (2005). Juror
common understanding of workplace harm.
Paper presented at the meetings of the American Psychology-Law Society,
La Jolla, CA.
Levett, L.M., Kovera, M.B., & Goodman-Delahunty, J.
(2004). Clinical psychologists’ beliefs
about the sequelae of sexual harassment.
In L. Levett, S. Greathouse, & M.B. Kovera (Co-Chairs), Consequences
of sexual harassment: legal and cultural considerations. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the
American Psychological Association, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Levett, L.M., Kovera, M.B., & Goodman-Delahunty, J.
(2003). U.S. jurors’ beliefs about the psychological sequelae of sexual
harassment. In R. Wiener (Chair), Advances
in empirical research on gender and the law: Peoples’ errors and
misconceptions. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the International,
Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychology and Law, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Links to Research Projects:
Issues in Jury and Juror Decision Making
Antecedents and Consequences of Wrongful Conviction
Contact Information:
University of Florida
Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law
P.O. Box 117330
Gainesville, FL 32611
Phone: 352-392-0265, extension 205
Email: llevett@ufl.edu
