What to Do After a Sexual Assault in the Workplace

If you were sexually assaulted at work, what you are feeling right now - shock, doubt, even misplaced shame - is what nearly every survivor describes. None of it is yours to carry, and none of it changes the facts: what happened is a crime, it is also a civil violation, and California law gives you more paths forward than almost any state. This page is a practical order of operations, take it at your own pace.

First: Safety and Health

Get away from the person - leave the workplace if you need to; no job duty requires staying near an assailant. If there is any injury or you may want forensic evidence preserved, a hospital or clinic visit matters most in the first hours; tell them what happened so care and documentation match. A confidential sexual assault hotline (RAINN, 1-800-656-4673, 24/7) can walk you through immediate options anonymously. Nothing on this page requires deciding anything tonight.

The Criminal Track - Your Choice, On Your Timeline

Workplace sexual assault - groping, forced contact, worse - is a crime, and you can report it to police whenever you are ready. Two things survivors often aren't told: a police report strengthens any later civil case (it is dated, official corroboration), and the civil case does NOT require one. Prosecutors must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; your civil claim needs only "more likely than not." Many survivors pursue both; some pursue only the civil path. Both are legitimate.

The Civil Track - Where the Employer Answers Too

The assailant is personally liable for assault and battery. But workplace assaults almost always involve employer liability as well: a supervisor-assailant triggers strict liability under FEHA; a coworker or customer assailant makes the employer answerable if it knew the risk or learned of conduct and failed to act - the missed warnings, the prior complaints about the same person, the security that didn't exist. Civil remedies include therapy and medical costs, lost income, emotional distress damages (often the largest component), and punitive damages. Assault cases also carry longer deadlines than ordinary harassment claims in many circumstances - but do not let that comfort you into waiting; evidence decays fast.

Evidence, While It Exists

Write down everything you remember with times and places - tonight's memory outranks next month's. Preserve what you were wearing if unwashed (if criminal reporting is possible). Save every message from the assailant, before and after. Note cameras that cover the area - footage cycles in days, and a lawyer's preservation letter can freeze it. Tell one trusted person now; a contemporaneous outcry witness matters in both tracks.

Work, Reporting, and Retaliation

Report the assault to your employer in writing when you are able - it triggers their duty to act and to keep you safe, including separating the assailant, not you, from your role. If your hours, shifts, or standing change after you report, that is retaliation, separately unlawful and presumed so within 90 days. You cannot lawfully be pushed out for being the victim.

You Do Not Have to Sequence This Alone

One free, privileged conversation can map both tracks to your exact facts - what to preserve, whether and when to report, what your civil claim looks like, how to stay employed and safe meanwhile. That call changes nothing about what you choose; it changes how informed the choice is: 1-800-371-3088. If this page reached you in a hard moment and you just need support first, that hotline above exists exactly for that.