Sexual Harrassment Case Confirmed

The conviction in the sexual harassment case against former National Liberation Party lawmaker Federico Tinoco has been reviewed and confirmed by a Superior Labor Court this week.

The sentence will cost Tinoco and the government, as Tinoco's accomplice, 20 million colones in damages to be paid to Tinoco's accuser, a congressional aide he took with him in 2006 on a fact-finding trip to Talamanca canton in Limon province to consult with native Costa Ricans about a bill affecting them.

The plaintiff's lawyer, Paulo Zuniga, said the review serves to "re-vindicate" his client who suffered "grave moral damage" as well as her family.

The case took even longer than usual for the Costa Rican judicial system, since the original accusation was made in February of 2007. However, the original sentence in April, 2010, contained a compensation to the plaintiff of only 10 million colones.

That sentence was annulled on appeal due to an unresolved constitutional question. When the constitutional appeal was rejected by Sala IV, the case was thrown into the Labor Court for review, the sentence was upheld and the compensation in favor of the plaintiff doubled.

However, the case may not yet be settled. Since the review altered the original sentence, it still could be raised again to the Sala II appeals court if Tinoco or the prosecution should decide to do so.

The case at the time of the original sentence was hailed by feminist activists as a final death knell for the old Latin machismo culture in Costa Rica of the last century. Before the complaint by Tinoco's aide had been filed, sexual harassment cases were virtually unknown.