Sexual assault often involves situations that do not quite meet the necessary legal standard for rape charges. Too many people think of sexual crimes as black and white, but there are plenty of gray areas.

If you had an intimate encounter with someone from your workplace, they might eventually try to claim that you misused your authority and committed a sexual assault. If you are in a position of workplace authority, others may take their claim more seriously.

Under Colorado law, Your role as a supervisor or manager might open you up to some legal vulnerability for such claims. Why might workplace authority lead to allegations of sexual misconduct?

You are in a unique position to coerce or threaten others

When you have control over someone's day-to-day work experience and their income, your intimate interactions with them put you in a vulnerable position. If they can claim that you threatened their job or leveraged information you knew about them to coerce them into consenting, someone who said yes to you in person could try claiming the experience was legally a sexual assault.

It can be hard for a person in a position of authority to defend themselves against such accusations, as much of what occurs will have no witnesses. However, you may still be able to fight back when a subordinate at your workplace accuses you of misconduct and puts not just your employment but your freedom and reputation at risk.

Learning more about the laws that define sexual crimes in Colorado can help you avoid situations that could put you in jail.