Connecticut Employment Lawyer & Attorney : Daniel Schwartz : Stamford, Hartford New Haven, CT

Since Christmas seems so long ago, it's not much of a surprise that the case of the alleged harassment of Santa Claus dropped from the headlines. But, the Danbury News-Times provided this update over the long weekend:

A 33-year-old woman charged with allegedly groping a Santa Claus at the Danbury Fair mall in December applied for a special program that could erase her criminal record.

Sandrama Lamy, who was arrested Dec. 15, is facing charges of fourth-degree sexual assault and breach of peace for touching Santa inappropriately while sitting on his lap, according to police.

While in Superior Court with her lawyer, Lamy, who was in a wheelchair, applied for a program called accelerated rehabilitation that is made available to first-time offenders. If she is granted the program at a February hearing date, her record could be totally erased after a period of probation.

Lamy and her lawyer, Catherine Rivard, declined to comment after the hearing.

The article notes that a hearing on Ms. Lamy's application is scheduled for February 27, 2008.

I'll leave it to the criminal law bloggers to comment on the particulars, but no one should really be surprised by the result. Accelerated Rehabilitation is designed, in many ways, for cases like this where the arrest and charge appear to be an aberration on a person's record.   And unless there is something particularly strange in the application, I would expect the application to be granted.

In any event, the case of the alleged harassment of Santa Claus appears close to a resolution. We'll see if any malls revise their policies and procedures for Santa Claus visits next holiday season.

And, if you're wondering, Santa Claus was unavailable for comment up in the North Pole.

(H/T: ABA Journal)

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Since my posting yesterday on the sexual harassment incident involving Santa Claus and a 33-year-old woman, there has been lots of feedback in blogs and newspapers. Time for a brief update:

First, the woman who allegedly groped Santa Claus spoke to the media and has professed her innocence.  According to a Danbury News-Times report:

"I don't know what's going on. I don't know if he was confused, it was a false report," Sandrama Lamy, 33, said this morning.
...
"I did not sit on his lap. A woman there said 'Be careful, that's my husband.' I said 'What does that have to do with the picture?'" Lamy said. "That's all I said, and I left." 
...

"Why would I do this? There were so many people there. If he (Santa) needed a few extra bucks I would have given it to him," Lamy said. "I've never been involved in a crime or anything. This is shocking to me."

She's scheduled to appear in court on January 3, 2008.  The newspaper was unable to get a copy of the photo.

Second, a number of other blogs have commented on this as well, including Abovethelaw.com (thanks David!), ABA Journal (thanks Martha!), HR World, and The Word on Employment Law.  All are worth checking out for their own little spins on the story.

Third, The Hartford Courant reports today on the perils of being Santa Claus with additional stories. 

The allegedly groped and pied Santas, however, have nothing on the St. Nick who was riding in a helicopter recently over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Authorities said drug traffickers mistook Santa's chopper for a police operation and fired several rounds at the aircraft. No one was hurt, but two bullet holes were found in the fuselage, according to wire reports.

None of this can be good for Santa's spirits.

Happy Holidays, indeed.

UPDATE: Shortly after posting this, the Ohio Employer's Law Blog also put up a very informative post and link to an article about harassment by non-employees.  And Above the Law did a followup as well. 

FURTHER UPDATE: Two other blogs have also posted on this: Pointoflaw and A Public Defender. Thanks for their referrals.

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Santa Claus has enough employment issues to worry about without thinking about what will happen at the local mall when posing for pictures. After all, how treacherous can photo taking be?

Apparently, very -- when the person who wants to take a picture with Santa is interested in....well, I'll let the Hartford Courant pick up the story:

A 33-year-old woman who posed for a picture with Santa Claus at Danbury Fair Mall over the weekend wanted more than a photo, police said.

Sandrama Lamy inappropriately touched a 65-year-old worker dressed as Santa on Saturday while sitting on his lap, police said. She is charged with fourth-degree sexual assault and breach of peace, both misdemeanors.

According to police, Santa Claus reported an incident to them. Although the woman had left the area, she apparently was "easy to spot because she was on crutches, police said."

Presumably, the "real" Santa Claus is an independent contractor.  But if Santa Claus becomes an employee of the mall, does the mall have any exposure to the harassment by the customer?

Unlikely. The federal regulations on the subject of non-employee harassment, which can be found at 29 C.F.R. 1604.11(e), do suggest some limited circumstances where an employer could be liable for customer harassment. Specifically:

An employer may also be responsible for the acts of non- employees, with respect to sexual harassment of employees in the workplace, where the employer (or its agents or supervisory employees) knows or should have known of the conduct and fails to take immediate and appropriate corrective action. In reviewing these cases the Commission will consider the extent of the employer's control and any other legal responsibility which the employer may have with respect to the conduct of such non-employees.

I'm just taking a hunch here, but I'm imagining that this kind of harassment of Santa Claus is pretty rare; thus, its unlikely the employer could have foreseen this kind of harassment. (Readers, please let me know if I'm off base here).  And now, after the incident has occurred by this customer, the police have arrested the woman, making it unlikely to occur from her again. 

The mall, for its part, indicating that this type of behavior is not tolerated, according to another report. 

Danbury Fair mall spokeswoman Melissa Eigen called the alleged groping "an isolated incident....The safety of our guests and employees is a top priority, and we strive to create a safe and enjoyable shopping environment at all our facilities and Danbury Fair specifically,"

Is there anything else Santa and the mall can do to avoid this type of incident in the future?  Far be it for me to be a grinch and suggest that Santa avoid any contact with individuals while taking pictures. That is the nature of the job. (Sliding down chimneys is also an occupational hazard, but I'll leave that for another blog post.)

Let me suggest instead that perhaps Santa can just take measures into his own hands.  He can make a list, check it twice, and ensure that any future harassers are on the "naughty" list.  Then he should just give them coal for Christmas.  That should stop the harassment. 

Any other suggestions, blog readers?

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