Pursuing a civil claim for harassment

Eu-Fern Lai, Trainee Solicitor

Fern works across a range of matters, including family, employment, higher education, civil claims for rape and sexual assault, and historical child sexual abuse.

Victims of harassment or stalking can sometimes be surprised to learn that their options of justice are not limited to the criminal justice system, where victims themselves have minimal control over the criminal proceedings. Many do not realize that they may pursue recourse through the civil courts – where success means not only justice, but monetary compensation that can help them find their footing again after a difficult experience, or even a civil injunction to prevent further harassment.

What is harassment?

The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (“the Act”) defines ‘harassment’ as either: a ‘course of conduct’ involving two or more instances of harassment or conduct that puts the victim in fear of violence.

The Act defines a criminal offence of harassment, as well as both criminal and civil remedies for victims of harassment. Pursuing a civil claim for harassment requires the Claimants to prove that the conduct would meet the criminal standard of liability. In other words, the alleged misconduct must be sufficiently serious to meet the criminal threshold or amount to a criminal offence if the Claimant pursued police action for the same offence(s). In certain circumstances, a recognisable psychiatric injury caused by the harassment must also be shown to pursue a claim for damages.

Damages in a civil claim for harassment

While the exact amount of compensation will vary on a case-by-case basis and is impossible to determine without proper assessment by an experienced solicitor, the quantification of compensation follows pre-established, common law ‘heads of claim’ or ‘damages’.

Compensation in a civil claim for harassment will therefore likely comprise two types of ‘damages’ that may overlap: (1) injury to feelings, and (2) aggravated damages.

1. Injury to feelings

Compensation for damages for injury to feelings is awarded on the basis that the wrongdoer’s conduct caused emotional and mental distress to the Claimant. These damages are governed by so-called Vento bands, which set our brackets for damages. When determining an award for injury to feelings, courts will consider the severity and duration of the harassment, the impact on the victim’s mental and psychiatric health, and any further impact on the Claimant’s ability to carry on with day-to-day life. Any overlap between an award of injury to feelings and aggravated damages as below must be considered to avoid double recovery.

2. Aggravated damages

Compensation for aggravated damages aims to compensate Claimants where the distress experienced was exacerbated by the circumstances surrounding the harassment, and/or the conduct of the wrongdoer thereafter. It can be awarded in cases where there was a failure of a relevant authority, such as an employer, to deal with a complaint of harassment previously made by the Claimant. Aggravated damages can also be governed by Vento bands, as they often overlap with awards for injury to feelings.