Law student Udi Shaham won a small claims court case on Monday against a man who sent him an unsolicited explicit photo on the gay dating app "Grindr", according to a report by N12.
Shaham, 22, when setting up his profile wrote that he did not wish to receive any pictures of people's genitals, yet a profile named "Sex with Young Men" sent him an explicit photo in October 2022.
Shaham spoke to a lawyer and afterward decided to begin a lawsuit, however, to file a lawsuit one needs a full name and address, which Shaham obtained by pretending to be interested in the man. After a few days, he decided against a lawsuit but kept a hold of the information anyway.
The man continued to send Shaham explicit messages, including more explicit photos, on a nearly daily basis.
Eventually, Shaham told the man to stop messaging him, but the man ignored Shaham's request. Shaham sent him just one word "Enough!"
During the next two weeks, Shaham received a series of harassing messages, leading him to say "I asked you to stop, stop writing to me, I'm uncomfortable, I'm not interested."
In an attempt to get all the necessary information, Shaham agreed to meet the man and obtained all the necessary information, following which Shaham told the man to never contact him again and then blocked him.
Shaham decided to follow through on the lawsuit against the man to discourage him from repeating his behavior towards Shaham and other men who were decades younger than him.
Sexual harassment lawsuit
Shaham filed a compensation claim for the maximum amount permitted in small claims, NIS 36,400. This is significantly lower than the amount that can be claimed According to the law on sexual harassment, which is 120,000 NIS, according to N12.
The defendant argued that Grindr is a well-known "sex app" and that Shaham should have expected such conduct.
Shaham however argued that his profile explicitly said that he did not want explicit photos and that the app's regulations say not to send unsolicited photos.
Additionally, Shaham backed up his argument with previous judicial rulings that said that sending nude photos to minors is considered harassment and that logically this should apply to adults too.
Shaham said in court "In his actions, he sexually harassed me on a criminal level, violated my privacy, violated my human dignity, and harmed me. People like him make the apps toxic, people like him make me think twice before communicating with the world. It is true that it will always exist, but that does not mean that it should not be fought. It is important to fight such phenomena in order to marginalize them, to create a safe internet for the majority of people who do not behave in the way he does."
Most sexual harassment lawsuits end in a plea agreement and settlement, but Shaham had had enough and wanted to pursue a full judgment.
Because Shaham engaged with the man early some messages were said to not constitute harassment, however, all messages sent after Shaham made clear he was not interested were counted.
The court awarded NIS 20,000 in monetary compensation to Shaham, 5,000 for sending the first photo, 12,000 for the harassment mask, and 3,000 for the additional contact after the man was blocked. In addition, the man will pay Shaham an additional NIS 1,350 for legal expenses, according to N12.
אני גבר. תבעתי על הטרדה מינית בתביעות קטנות - אז אין עורכי דין. אני לא אמור להיות לחוץ, בטח שלא על סף התקף חרדה לפני הדיון, אז למה זה קורה לי? לא מסוגל לתפוס איך מרגישות נשים בסיטואציות כאלה, במיוחד נשים שעברו יותר מהטרדה מינית. משהו עקום במערכת.
— אודינקה ️️ (@UdinkaPudinka) January 23, 2024
Shaham commented on X about the whole ordeal saying "I am unable to grasp how women feel in such situations, especially women who have been through more than sexual harassment. Something is wrong with the system."