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FHH Protects Client Rape Victim’s Privacy in U.S. Fourth Circuit

an FHH attorney, Thomas F. Urban II, won an important victory for the firm’s client, Jane Doe, to protect her right to pursue her civil claims against her rapist without having to expose her identity. Due to Urban’s efforts and those of his co-counsel, Walter Steimel of Steimel Counselors Law Group, LLC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a published Opinion protecting the anonymity of Doe. Doe’s counsel established that her assailant was liable for the rape after he not only refused to provide a DNA sample that would have confirmed his culpability but also failed to mount a defense on default judgment. Doe v. Sidar, No. 23-1177 (4th Cir. 2024). In acknowledging the need to protect Doe’s identity, the Fourth Circuit vacated an order issued by Senior Judge Claude Hilton of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued just eleven days before trial in the case was to begin, where Doe’s identity would have been revealed.

In its Opinion, the Fourth Circuit held that it was “conclusively established that Cenk Sidar raped Jane Doe [the anonymous rape victim] in London in September 2017.” Sidar is the CEO of a Washington, D.C.-based Artificial Intelligence company, Enquire AI. As the Court explained,

“[t]he legal effect of a default judgment [issued by the district court for Sidar’s failure to provide the DNA sample] is that [Sidar] is deemed to have admitted the plaintiff ’s well-pleaded allegations of fact . . . and is barred from contesting . . . the facts thus established.” For that reason, we must assume that Sidar “admitted that he . . . raped” Doe and the truth of her allegations about how he did so.

The Fourth Circuit also acknowledged that “[t]here is a ‘presumption’ that parties must sue and be sued in their own names,�� and that “[f]or that reason, few cases warrant anonymity.” The Court evaluated Doe’s request for anonymity based upon the Fourth Circuit’s existing test, which looks at five non-exhaustive factors when ruling on motions to proceed by pseudonym.

In this case, the Court held that the district court’s “decision to remove Doe’s anonymity on the eve of the damages-only trial” strained the bounds of its permitted discretion in three ways: First, the district court failed to adequately take into account the nature and strength of Doe’s legitimate interest in anonymity by seriously understating Doe’s legitimate privacy interests. The Court held that the issues here were not merely sensitive—they involved intimate details of Doe’s sexual assault by Sidar and resulting psychological trauma.

Second, the Fourth Circuit found that the district court’s analysis was legally flawed in its suggestion that fairness considerations invariably cut against anonymity unless the opposing party was also proceeding anonymously. Judge Hilton had ruled that allowing Doe to remain anonymous while requiring Sidar to use his name at trial was unfair to Sidar. Noting that Sidar had never requested anonymity, the Fourth Circuit held that Sidar having been found liable for the rape through a default judgment weighed in Doe’s favor to use a pseudonym.

Third, the Fourth Circuit found that the district court’s decision was based on a “flawed . . . legal premise” because it did not address the fact that its entry of a default judgment tipped powerfully in Doe’s favor. The Court held that because Sidar was already found liable and because further proceedings would be limited to determining the damages he must pay, the “risk of any unfairness to” Sidar from Doe’s continued anonymity was significantly reduced.

For these reasons, the Fourth Circuit concluded that the district court exceeded the bounds of its discretion in its order requiring Doe to use her real name at trial, and thus vacated Judge Hilton’s order and remanded it with directions to reconsider in light of its opinion.

Thomas F. Urban II is a civil litigator who was recently named a Best Lawyer TM for commercial litigation in Virginia, with a specialization in First Amendment and privacy matters. Urban was recently lead counsel for an amicus brief on behalf of several women’s groups such as the National Organization for Women and groups advocating for the protection of sexual assault victims filed in the appeal of the Amber Heard v. Johnny Depp case shortly before that case settled. Currently, Urban and other FHH attorneys are counsel for Subspace Omega, LLC in an antitrust lawsuit seeking over $500 million from Amazon Web Services, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Case No. 2:23-cv-01772-TL (W.D.Wa.). Urban is also currently defending a favorable judgment for his clients Jeffrey Lohman and The Law Offices of Jeffrey Lohman in a RICO case against an appeal by Navient Solutions, LLC in the U.S. Fourth Circuit.

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Is www.wewe.global Legit?

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Explaining Our Analytical Approach:-

We've displayed some important information within the Company Details section above, each deserving more explanation:

Proximity to Suspicious Websites Threat Profile Phishing Profile Malware Score Spam Score Domain Blacklist Status HTTPS connection Domain Creation Date While some are self-explanatory concerning www.wewe.global, let's dive deeper into the remaining ones.

Proximity to Potentially Harmful Websites:-

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Risk Factors: Threat, Phishing, Malware, and Spam:-

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A high Malware score generally implies the presence of suspicious code that might be unknowingly disseminated. Conversely, a high Spam score hints at a possibly spam-ridden email address associated with the business. Scores under 30 in both categories are reassuring, but any score surpassing this threshold should raise concerns.

www.wewe.global is a suspicious website, given all the risk factors and data numbers analyzed in this in-depth review. Share your experience in the comments.

Domain Blacklisting Status This term indicates whether www.wewe.global has landed on any online directories' blacklists and earned a suspicious tag.

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Police suspect woman involved in multiple identity scams

City police have arrested a woman they believe is responsible for defrauding several businesses by stealing identities.

The fraud investigation was launched following a complaint that a Calgary woman had filed a loan application after stealing the identity of a local business owner.

It’s alleged the woman placed a deposit on a business that was for sale and then used information from that effort to apply for a loan.

In a separate instance, police allege the woman gained personal employee information provided for payroll purposes while posing as a purchaser of a business.

She then used that information to obtain credit, say city police.

It eventually became clear, say police, that a number of businesses and individuals had fallen victim to similar identity scams, with that stolen information used to apply for loans or obtain credit.

The alarm was raised after financial institutions contacted the people whose names were used, only to find they hadn’t applied for loans or credit.

Ashley Venn, 33, is charged with five counts of personation, five counts of fraud over $5,000 and one count of forgery.

She goes by the alias Ashley Curran.

Though police have identified eight victims they say are linked to Venn, it’s believed others have also had their personal or business information compromised.

One of Venn’s alleged victims said she was selling her Calgary hair salon last summer when the suspect showed interest in it.

“I believed in her so much, that she was 100 per cent the person to take over my business,” said Pearl Farewell.