By Joseph Shirazi, Managing Partner, Compass Law Group · CA Bar #265403
Published July 3, 2026 at 9:00 AM PT · Updated May 6, 2026

Were You Sexually Abused at Work in California? What FEHA and AB 2777 Mean for Survivors

According to RAINN, 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men in the United States will experience sexual violence in their lifetime — and for many, that abuse happens at work. If you have suffered workplace sexual abuse in California, the law is firmly on your side. Both the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and California civil statutes give survivors powerful legal tools to pursue justice, hold abusers accountable, and obtain meaningful compensation from the employers who enabled them.

What Is Workplace Sexual Abuse Under California’s FEHA — and How Does It Differ From Harassment?

The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), codified at California Government Code §12940, is one of the most expansive state employment discrimination laws in the country. FEHA prohibits sexual harassment in any California workplace with five or more employees — far broader coverage than federal Title VII, which requires at least 15. Under FEHA, workplace sexual abuse falls into two recognized categories: quid pro quo harassment, where a supervisor conditions employment benefits on sexual compliance, and hostile work environment harassment, where unwelcome sexual conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create an abusive working environment.

Source: Compass Law Group | Workplace Sexual Abuse and FEHA

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Workplace sexual abuse frequently crosses the line from employment harassment into criminal conduct: groping, assault, rape, or coerced sexual acts. When that happens, a survivor may pursue both a FEHA civil claim through the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) and a separate civil lawsuit for sexual battery or assault under California tort law. These are parallel legal paths that a skilled California sexual abuse attorney can pursue simultaneously, maximizing the total recovery available to you. For survivors in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, and across California, Compass Law Group has the experience to pursue both tracks aggressively on your behalf.

It is important to understand that FEHA protects not just full-time employees but also independent contractors, interns, volunteers, and job applicants. Sexual abuse by a manager, co-worker, client, vendor, or any person operating in the workplace environment may give rise to employer liability under FEHA. No California worker should be forced to endure sexual abuse as a condition of employment — and California law ensures they do not have to.

What California Laws Protect Workplace Sexual Abuse Survivors — and Are There Deadlines?

California provides multiple overlapping layers of legal protection for survivors of workplace sexual abuse. At the employment law level, FEHA (Government Code §12940) creates a private right of action against employers who fail to prevent, investigate, or stop sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace. FEHA’s statute of limitations was extended to three years from the last act of harassment under AB 9 (2019). After filing an administrative complaint with the CRD (formerly DFEH), you will receive a Right to Sue letter, enabling you to file a civil lawsuit in California Superior Court seeking the full range of employment damages.

For civil sexual assault or battery claims that are distinct from the FEHA employment framework, CCP §340.1 and CCP §340.16 provide critical protections depending on when the abuse occurred and the survivor’s age at the time. For adult survivors, AB 2777 (2022) created a revival window through CCP §340.16 that allows claims that would otherwise be time-barred to be filed through December 31, 2026 — after which this window closes permanently. For a deeper look at how California’s statute of limitations framework applies across different abuse contexts, see our guide to the California statute of limitations for sexual assault.

For survivors of childhood sexual abuse that occurred in a workplace or institutional setting — including abuse by a school administrator, clergy member, or youth organization supervisor — AB 218 (2019) completely eliminated the statute of limitations for childhood abuse under CCP §340.1. A California child sexual abuse lawyer can confirm: if the abuse occurred before you turned 18, you may file a civil lawsuit at any age with no deadline whatsoever. As any experienced Los Angeles sexual abuse lawyer will advise, however, survivors whose abuser or employer was a government entity face an additional requirement: a Government Claims Act notice must be filed within six months of discovering the abuse. This makes early legal consultation critical.

Who Can Be Held Liable for Workplace Sexual Abuse in California?

Managing Partner Joseph Shirazi of Compass Law Group observes: “The instinct of many survivors is to focus only on the individual who harmed them — but in workplace sexual abuse cases, the employer and the institution often carry the deepest pockets and the most culpable negligence. Our job is to hold every responsible party accountable.” This is a critical insight: California law allows survivors to pursue multiple defendants simultaneously across both the FEHA and civil tort frameworks.

Under FEHA, employers are strictly liable for sexual harassment by supervisors — meaning they cannot escape responsibility by claiming ignorance of the abuse. For co-worker or third-party harassment, employer liability attaches when the employer knew or should have known about the conduct and failed to take immediate corrective action. Beyond direct harassment liability, employers can be held accountable under theories of negligent hiring (failing to screen for a predatory history), negligent retention (keeping an employee after warning signs emerged), and negligent supervision (failing to oversee employees with access to vulnerable workers). These same theories of institutional liability extend to California clergy sexual abuse cases, California CYO sexual abuse claims, California Boy Scouts sexual abuse lawsuits, and California 4-H sexual abuse matters where the organization, not just the individual abuser, enabled ongoing harm.

The following parties may be held legally liable in a California workplace sexual abuse claim:

• The individual abuser — personally liable for assault, battery, sexual battery under CA Civil Code §1708.5, and intentional infliction of emotional distress
• The direct employer — strictly liable under FEHA for supervisor conduct; liable for negligence when co-worker or third-party harassment was known or reasonably discoverable
• Staffing agencies and temporary employment companies — when they place workers in environments with known risks without adequate warning or protective measures
• Third parties with on-premises authority — clients, vendors, contractors, or business partners who abuse workers on company property or within the employment relationship
• Institutional employers — religious organizations, youth groups, nonprofits, and educational institutions whose supervisory failures created the conditions for prolonged abuse
• Parent corporations and franchisors — where they exercised sufficient control over workplace safety policies at the subsidiary or franchise level that allowed abuse to occur and continue
• Government employers — subject to both FEHA and the Government Claims Act, with a six-month notice deadline after discovery of the abuse

Survivors working for institutional employers — whether in San Francisco nonprofits, Sacramento school districts, or statewide religious organizations — should consult a San Francisco sexual abuse lawyer or a Sacramento sexual abuse lawyer at Compass Law Group to identify every potentially liable party in their specific case.

What Compensation Can Survivors Recover in a California Workplace Sexual Abuse Lawsuit?

One of the most common questions survivors ask is: “Is it really worth coming forward?” The answer — legally and personally — is yes. California provides some of the most comprehensive damages frameworks in the country for survivors of sexual abuse. Under both FEHA and California civil tort law, a successful plaintiff may be entitled to substantial compensation across multiple categories, pursued simultaneously.

Economic damages compensate for quantifiable financial losses: past and future medical expenses related to physical injuries, the full cost of ongoing therapy and psychiatric care, lost wages from time missed at work, diminished earning capacity if the abuse affected your ability to maintain or advance employment, and any direct out-of-pocket costs caused by the abuse or its aftermath.

Non-economic damages address harms that are equally real and equally devastating: physical pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, shame, humiliation, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Under California Civil Code §52.4, survivors of gender violence may seek treble damages — up to three times actual damages — plus attorney’s fees, making California one of the most powerful jurisdictions in the nation for civil sexual abuse claims.

Punitive damages may be available when an employer or institution engaged in malicious conduct, oppression, or fraud — for example, by actively concealing a known abuser’s history, retaliating against the survivor for reporting, or systematically covering up a pattern of workplace abuse. Survivors in Long Beach, Oakland, and throughout California have recovered punitive awards in institutional sexual abuse cases where corporate misconduct was particularly egregious. A comprehensive civil claim brought by an experienced workplace sexual abuse lawyer in California will also assess reinstatement or front pay under FEHA, back pay for wages lost during the harassment period, attorney’s fees and litigation costs, and injunctive relief compelling the employer to reform its anti-harassment practices.

California Sexual Abuse Statistics: By the Numbers

The scale of workplace sexual abuse in California — and across the United States — makes clear that survivors are never alone, and that systemic legal accountability is both necessary and achievable.

• 1 in 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime, according to RAINN — underscoring why California’s legal revival windows are vital lifelines for survivors who did not come forward at the time of the abuse.
• 38% of women who experience workplace sexual harassment do not report it, most commonly citing fear of retaliation, disbelief by supervisors, and not knowing their legal rights (EEOC Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace, 2016).
• $164.5 million in monetary relief was obtained by the EEOC in workplace sexual harassment cases in fiscal year 2020 alone — and this figure excludes the many additional civil lawsuits filed independently of the EEOC process, including California civil sexual abuse claims under CCP §340.16.
• 1 in 3 women in the United States has experienced contact sexual violence in her lifetime, according to the CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS, 2022) — a figure that highlights the profound gap between the true prevalence of abuse and the number of survivors who pursue legal action.
• $250 million+ recovered by Compass Law Group, LLP for abuse survivors across California — demonstrating what is possible when experienced attorneys fight aggressively for full accountability from every responsible party.

How Does Compass Law Group Help California Workplace Sexual Abuse Survivors?

At Compass Law Group, LLP, we understand that the decision to pursue legal action after workplace sexual abuse is not just a legal choice — it is an act of profound personal courage. Managing Partner Joseph Shirazi (Bar #265403) and Partner Simon Esfandi (Bar #275307) have built their practice around holding employers, institutions, and individual perpetrators fully accountable under every available theory of California law. Our firm has recovered $250 million and counting for clients across the state, and we bring that hard-won experience to every workplace sexual abuse civil lawsuit we handle.

We represent survivors in cases involving corporate employers of all sizes, religious organizations facing California clergy sexual abuse lawsuits, and institutional defendants in California Boy Scouts and California CYO sexual abuse claims. Our attorneys serve survivors across every region of the state — from Sacramento and Northern California to Beverly Hills sexual abuse attorney representation and the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. Compass Law Group maintains offices in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Francisco, Sacramento, Oakland, and Bell Gardens, so compassionate, experienced legal counsel is never far from where you are.

Every client receives a free, fully confidential consultation — and you may speak with our attorneys completely anonymously if you choose. We handle all sexual abuse civil lawsuit cases on a strict contingency fee basis: you pay nothing unless and until we win. Our areas of practice span the full breadth of civil injury law — from workplace sexual abuse and institutional liability to Los Angeles pedestrian accident cases — and every client receives the same relentless, results-focused advocacy. If you or someone you love has experienced workplace sexual abuse in California, please do not wait. Call us today at (213) 320-1001.

References

1. California Code of Civil Procedure §340.1 (AB 218) — Sexual Abuse Statute of Limitations
2. RAINN — Sexual Violence Statistics
3. California Code of Civil Procedure §340.16 (AB 2777) — Adult Sexual Abuse Revival Window

Joseph Shirazi
Managing Partner, Compass Law Group, LLP
California Bar #265403
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Every case is unique.

California Sexual Abuse Lawsuit — Key Statistics

Steps to Take After a Workplace Sexual Abuse Claim

1. Preserve all evidence immediately. Save every text message, email, voicemail, and social media communication involving the abuser or workplace witnesses. Screenshot and back up to a personal device not connected to your employer’s network. Evidence you control cannot be deleted by your employer during litigation.
2. Document the abuse in writing. Write a detailed account of every incident as soon as possible — recording dates, times, locations, exactly what was said or done, who witnessed it, and how it affected you physically and emotionally. Store this documentation outside your workplace in personal email, cloud storage, or on a home computer.
3. Report internally and in writing. File a formal complaint with your HR department or supervisor’s superior using email so you have a dated, written record of the report. California law requires employers to investigate and respond. While internal reporting is not required to bring a FEHA claim, it creates a paper trail that meaningfully strengthens your civil case and establishes the employer’s knowledge.
4. File a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD). Before filing a FEHA civil lawsuit in California court, you must file an administrative complaint with the CRD and receive a Right to Sue letter. A California workplace sexual abuse attorney can file on your behalf and request an immediate right-to-sue letter, allowing your civil case to proceed without waiting for the administrative investigation to conclude.
5. Consult a California sexual abuse attorney without delay. The AB 2777 revival window under CCP §340.16 for adult survivors closes permanently on December 31, 2026. Government entity claims require a Government Claims Act notice within just six months. An attorney can assess your specific deadlines, identify every liable party, and begin building your case before critical evidence is lost or statutes expire — a consultation that costs you nothing at Compass Law Group.
6. Seek medical and mental health support. Report the physical and psychological effects of the abuse to your healthcare provider and begin working with a trauma-informed therapist. This documentation is vital both for your recovery and for establishing the medical record that directly supports your claim for therapy costs, emotional distress damages, and related economic losses in court.
7. Document any retaliation from your employer. FEHA expressly prohibits retaliation against employees who report sexual harassment or file complaints. Record any changes in job duties, disciplinary actions, negative performance reviews, reduced hours, or hostile treatment following your report — these constitute independent FEHA violations your attorney can pursue alongside the underlying abuse claim, potentially adding significant additional damages.

Source: Compass Law Group | Workplace Sexual Abuse and FEHA

▶ Call (213) 320-1001 ▶ Free Consultation