Opinion ID: 2071463
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Nature of Plaintiff's Claim

Text: Resolution of the issue of what constitutes allowable discovery requires first and foremost a determination concerning the nature of plaintiff's action. We agree with the Superior Court's ruling that plaintiff may not rely on criminal statutes relating to offensive touching and sexual harassment as a source of her private cause of action in this case. A statutory private remedy will be available only if legislative intent to provide such a remedy is present. [4] A statute does not grant a private cause of action simply because the statute has been violated and a person harmed. [5] Our task here is one of statutory construction limited solely to determining whether or not the General Assembly intended to create the private right of action asserted by Brett. [6] When a statute does not expressly create or deny a private remedy, the issue is whether or not the requisite legislative intent is implicit in the text, structure or purpose of the statute. [7] Sections 601 and 763(2) of Title 11 provide criminal penalties for offensive touching and sexual harassment. But neither statute explicitly provides for a private right of action, and we can find no implicit evidence that the General Assembly intended to create such a right. In some cases, the intent to create a private remedy may be inferred where a statute was obviously enacted for the protection of a designated class of individuals. [8] Here, both statutes impose general prohibitions. This suggests that the statutes were enacted, not to create rights for a particular group of citizens, but to protect the public at large. The penal focus of Sections 601 and 763(2) cannot be stretched to include civil redress for personal damages. [9] Accordingly, we affirm the Superior Court's ruling that plaintiffs claim, if properly stated, would be for the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress, and cannot be based on the criminal statutes asserted here.