Los Angeles Workplace Sexual Abuse Attorney

Under AB 2777, codified at California Code of Civil Procedure §340.16, survivors of sexual assault whose civil claims were previously dismissed or extinguished solely by the statute of limitations have until December 31, 2026 to revive or file their lawsuit. This window covers foster care survivors abused as adults, including those who remained in California’s extended foster care program under AB 12 (Welfare & Institutions Code §11403) between ages 18 and 21. San Francisco survivors who missed the earlier AB 218 lookback window, which closed December 31, 2022, should consult an attorney immediately to determine whether CCP §340.16 provides an alternative path before the hard deadline expires.

AB 218, signed into law in 2019 and codified at California Code of Civil Procedure §340.1, allows adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file civil claims until age 40 or within five years of discovering the connection between their injuries and the abuse, whichever occurs later. Critically, AB 218 eliminated the pre-filing government tort claim requirement under the California Government Claims Act for childhood sexual abuse cases, meaning survivors abused in San Francisco County foster placements can sue SFHSA directly without the prior six-month government claims hurdle. These protections extend to abuse occurring in county-supervised foster homes, licensed foster family agencies, group homes, and congregate care facilities throughout San Francisco County.

California Code of Civil Procedure §340.1 is the primary statute governing civil claims by adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse, setting the limitations period at the later of the survivor’s 40th birthday or five years from the date of discovery of the abuse-related psychological or physical injury. AB 218 amended §340.1 to remove the Government Claims Act pre-filing requirement, a critical protection for survivors who were abused in San Francisco Human Services Agency-supervised placements, since SFHSA is a public entity that would otherwise have been shielded by that procedural barrier. Survivors whose claims were time-barred before January 1, 2020 had a three-year lookback window that closed December 31, 2022; those who did not file during that period should urgently evaluate eligibility under CCP §340.16’s AB 2777 revival window before December 31, 2026.

Potentially liable parties include the individual foster parent or household member who committed the abuse, the licensed foster family agency (FFA) that recruited, approved, and supervised the placement, and the San Francisco Human Services Agency (SFHSA) if its social workers negligently screened applicants, ignored abuse reports, or failed to conduct required home visits. Under California Government Code §815.2, San Francisco County can be held vicariously liable for negligent acts committed by SFHSA employees within the scope of their employment. The California Department of Social Services may also face liability where its licensing oversight failures — such as inadequate CACI index checks under Penal Code §11170 — allowed a known abuser to remain in a licensed placement.

Under the Government Claims Act (Government Code §945.4), claimants ordinarily must file a tort claim with the relevant public entity within six months before pursuing a civil lawsuit. However, AB 218 explicitly eliminated this pre-filing requirement for childhood sexual abuse claims governed by CCP §340.1, meaning survivors abused as minors in San Francisco County foster care can proceed directly to San Francisco Superior Court without first submitting a government tort claim to SFHSA or the City and County of San Francisco. Adult survivors pursuing claims under CCP §340.16 should consult an attorney to evaluate whether the Government Claims Act still applies to their specific circumstances, as that exemption does not automatically extend to all AB 2777 claims against public entities.

Yes — the San Francisco Human Services Agency administers the city’s foster care program and can be named as a defendant when its employees negligently screened prospective foster parents, failed to investigate abuse complaints, or disregarded known risk factors in a placement. Under California Welfare & Institutions Code §16001.9, foster children have a statutory right to be free from abuse and to have that right actively protected by their placing agency. California Government Code §815.2 permits San Francisco County to be held liable for the negligent acts of SFHSA social workers, and AB 218’s elimination of the government claims pre-filing requirement for childhood abuse cases removes a major procedural obstacle that previously shielded county agencies.

Critical evidence includes foster care placement records, SFHSA social worker case notes and home visit logs, CACI index check records under Penal Code §11170, any prior abuse or neglect reports made to Child Protective Services, and police reports filed with the San Francisco Police Department’s Special Victims Unit. Medical records, psychiatric treatment records, and expert testimony from forensic psychologists documenting the long-term harm caused by the abuse are equally important for establishing damages at San Francisco Superior Court. Under California Evidence Code §1108, evidence of prior sexual offenses is admissible in civil cases, which can be decisive when a foster parent or group home staff member has a history of misconduct that the agency failed to uncover or act upon.

California imposes no statutory cap on compensatory damages in sexual abuse civil cases, meaning survivors can seek full recovery for past and future psychiatric and medical treatment, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. Punitive damages are also available under California Civil Code §3294 where the defendant’s conduct was malicious, oppressive, or fraudulent — a standard frequently met in foster care cases involving agencies that concealed known abusers or systematically failed to investigate complaints. California foster care sexual abuse verdicts and settlements have reached into the millions of dollars where institutional negligence by county agencies or licensed foster family agencies was established.

Civil sexual abuse claims arising from San Francisco County foster care placements are typically filed in San Francisco Superior Court at the Civic Center Courthouse, 400 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA 94102, which has jurisdiction over tort claims against both private defendants and San Francisco County. If constitutional deprivation claims are brought under 42 U.S.C. §1983 — for example, alleging that SFHSA’s deliberate indifference violated the plaintiff’s substantive due process rights — those claims may be filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, located at 450 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco. An experienced foster care sexual abuse attorney will evaluate whether state court, federal court, or a parallel filing strategy best positions the case for recovery.

Yes — licensed foster family agencies (FFAs) operating in San Francisco are subject to California Health & Safety Code §1506 and Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations, which impose affirmative duties to conduct thorough background checks, run CACI index checks, provide ongoing training, and respond promptly to abuse complaints. An FFA can be found negligent if it placed a child with a foster parent who had prior disqualifying history that a reasonable investigation would have uncovered, or if it failed to act on abuse reports during the placement. Unlike county agencies, FFAs are private entities not protected by governmental immunity, meaning survivors may pursue claims against them without the procedural constraints of the California Government Claims Act.

A survivor should consult a California sexual abuse attorney as soon as possible, given that the AB 2777 revival window under CCP §340.16 closes on December 31, 2026, and other limitations periods vary depending on when and where the abuse occurred. It is important to preserve all available documentation — including any foster care records, letters from SFHSA, therapy records, and communications with social workers — and to avoid signing any releases or settlement agreements without independent legal review. Survivors may request their complete foster care records from the San Francisco Human Services Agency and contact the California Department of Social Services’ Foster Care Ombudsman at 1-877-846-1602 to initiate a records request that can support a future civil claim.

California’s extended foster care program under AB 12, codified at Welfare & Institutions Code §11403, permits youth to remain in foster care until age 21, and sexual abuse occurring during this period — when the survivor was a legal adult — is governed by CCP §340.16 (AB 2777) rather than the childhood abuse statute under CCP §340.1. The AB 2777 revival window provides an opportunity to revive previously time-barred claims against the foster parent, the placing agency, and potentially SFHSA, but this window closes December 31, 2026, making prompt action essential. An attorney experienced in California foster care law can determine which statute of limitations applies, identify all responsible parties, and ensure the claim is filed before the revival deadline expires.

California’s Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), codified at Penal Code §11164 et seq., designates SFHSA social workers, foster care staff, teachers, and healthcare providers as mandatory reporters who must immediately report known or reasonably suspected child abuse to law enforcement or child protective services. When a mandatory reporter fails to report suspected foster care sexual abuse — or when SFHSA supervisors fail to follow up on reports already filed — that failure can constitute negligence per se in a civil lawsuit, establishing breach of the duty of care without requiring the plaintiff to independently prove the applicable professional standard. California courts have allowed this theory of liability to proceed against county child welfare agencies where documentary evidence shows social workers received abuse complaints and took no action.

Foster care sexual abuse complaints in San Francisco are investigated by SFHSA’s Child Protective Services division and, for criminal conduct, by the San Francisco Police Department’s Special Victims Unit at 850 Bryant Street. Complaints may also be filed with the California Department of Social Services’ Foster Care Ombudsman at 1-877-846-1602 and with the Community Care Licensing Division, which licenses and investigates foster family agencies and group homes statewide. Official investigation records — including CPS case files, police reports, and licensing investigation findings — are discoverable in civil litigation and can be subpoenaed as business records under California Evidence Code §1280, providing foundational documentary evidence of the agency’s knowledge of and response to the reported abuse.

For sexual abuse occurring in a San Francisco group home or short-term residential therapeutic program (STRTP) when the survivor was a minor, California Code of Civil Procedure §340.1 — as amended by AB 218 — provides until the survivor’s 40th birthday or five years from discovery of the abuse-related injury, whichever is later, with no government claims pre-filing requirement for claims against public entities. STRTPs and group homes are licensed by the California Department of Social Services under Health & Safety Code §1502 et seq., and both the operating organization and its employees can be held liable alongside San Francisco County if SFHSA’s oversight failures contributed to the abuse. Survivors who believe their §340.1 claim may be time-barred should immediately consult an attorney to evaluate whether the AB 2777 revival window under CCP §340.16, which closes December 31, 2026, provides an alternative path to recovery.