The Superior Court of Justice’s dilemma: Should Companies Bear the Risk of Passengers Being Harassed on Public Transportation?

Abstract

This paper examines a sensitive issue, of great relevance and not yet pacified in the Superior Court of Justice: the liability of public transport companies for the sexual harassment committed inside their wagons. The paper then investigates the jurisprudence of that court with respect to internal and external force majeure, in order to determine what are the requirements for the exoneration of the company. In order to contextualize the issue, a comparative study was also carried out regarding the jurisprudence of the French Court of Cassation about the configuration of force majeure in the event of liability of a public transport company due to an event caused by a third party.