Same facts difference between civil and criminal cases, same reason for using the courts.

Vail won a jury verdict in a civil suit for the alleged rape of a Vail customer by a Vail employee. See Vail Resorts wins ski instructor lawsuit. The Vail employee had been found not guilty in a criminal trial earlier, but had been convicted of Contributing to the Delinquency of a minor. See Former ski instructor gets 90 days in jail.

It is not necessary to get into the facts of the case to discuss the legal issues here. The ski instructor was charged with a criminal act. Vail was charged with a civil negligence claim.

The burden of proof, what the prosecutor has to prove, in a criminal trial is the ski instructor did the act Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. The plaintiff in their civil suit against Vail must prove their case by a Preponderance of the Evidence. These are two of the hardest concepts to understand in the law.

In the US we base our system on the idea that personal freedom, not doing jail time, is the most important issue. Subsequently we have a very high burden to prove that someone should go to jail, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. Any doubt at all and the alleged defendant are free, not guilty. This is very different from Europe. See Litigation v. Jail Time.

The burden to prove a civil suit is much lower, a Preponderance of the Evidence. A much lower level of proof needed to prove that someone has done a civil wrong.

There is a relationship between a criminal trial and a civil lawsuit based on the same facts. But the actual claims in both cases are very different.

In the criminal case the prosecutor must prove the alleged defendant did the act: had sexual relations with a person under the age of 18. In the civil case the argument was that Vail negligently hired the ski instructor. By not doing a background check Vail had allowed, negligently to hire someone they should not have hired.

Even though the cases stem from the same set of facts, the civil and criminal litigation are very different, very different issues to prove and very different results.

But the reasoning, the reason for both cases seems to be anger, revenge, and punishment.

See: Vail Resorts wins ski instructor lawsuit