A sexual assault at work does more than harm the person who experienced it. It can upend a career, poison a workplace and leave the survivor wondering whether reporting will cost them their job. Many people stay silent for months, sometimes longer, while they try to keep earning a paycheck. In Illinois, though, the law gives workplace survivors several ways to hold both the person responsible and the employer accountable, and the clock on some of those options is far shorter than many people realize.
You do not need to have filed a police report, and nobody needs to have been charged with a crime. A civil claim asks what the employer knew, what it should have known and what it did about it.
Three Routes, Each With Its Own Rules
A workplace sexual assault can lead to claims through three distinct paths. The first is the Illinois Human Rights Act. The second is Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act. The third is an ordinary civil claim for the assault itself. Each route has its own requirements and its own deadline, and choosing correctly can make the difference between a viable claim and one that is lost.
The Deadlines Are Short
A charge under the Illinois Human Rights Act must generally be filed within two years. A federal Title VII charge must generally be filed within 300 days. A civil claim for the assault itself is generally subject to a two-year limit for adults. Those periods are much shorter than the rules for childhood abuse, which is why it is worth asking about your options sooner rather than later.
Who Can Be Held Responsible
For employees, a claim against the employer usually runs through the Illinois Human Rights Act or Title VII, both of which cover sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. A separate claim for assault or battery can also be brought against the person who committed the act.
The situation changes when the person harmed was not an employee. If a customer, visitor or client was assaulted by a worker, the employer may be liable for negligently hiring or keeping on someone it knew, or should have known, was dangerous.
The employer is usually a private organization. In that case, the Tort Immunity rules that govern claims against Illinois public bodies do not apply in the same way, and the liability questions are the ordinary institutional ones.
Coverage Under State and Federal Law
The Illinois Human Rights Act reaches sexual harassment by employers with as few as one employee, and charges are filed with the Illinois Department of Human Rights. Title VII generally applies to employers with 15 or more employees, with charges filed through the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That difference matters for people who work at small businesses.
The Paper Trail Inside the Company
Employers keep human resources files, records of prior complaints and investigation notes. Even a complaint that was investigated and then closed is still a record showing the employer knew about a problem. Those documents often say more about an employer's knowledge than any single witness could.
A Fourth Option Worth Knowing
Illinois also has the Gender Violence Act, 740 ILCS 82, which creates a stand-alone civil claim for people subjected to gender-related violence. It allows a survivor to seek damages, injunctive relief or other relief. The Act reaches the person who committed the violence and anyone who personally encouraged or assisted it, which can extend liability to people who did not commit the assault themselves. A separate section of the Act provides a route against employers, with its own conditions and its own limitation period. Because the Act sets different time limits depending on the category of violence involved, and another for actions against employers, figuring out which category applies is a question to raise early. For someone who was a minor when the claim arose, the period runs from their 18th birthday rather than from the incident.
Common Questions
It happened some time ago. Delays are common in this work. What governs a claim is your age at the time, who was responsible and the particular facts, though adult workplace deadlines can be short.
What does it cost? Nothing up front. These cases are handled on a contingency fee, so there is no fee if there is no recovery.
I only remember parts of what happened. That is ordinary. These claims are built largely from institutional records rather than a complete personal account.
What Happens If You Reach Out
Asking a question commits you to nothing.
- A person answers your call, and you do not need to describe what happened.
- We look into which employer or organization had a duty, what it knew, which records exist and whether a claim can still be brought, at no cost to you.
- You hear plainly what is possible and decide. If you stop there, everything stays confidential.
- If you go ahead, we handle filings, deadlines, records and insurers, and can ask the court to protect your identity.
Contact Ervin Nevitt
Ervin Nevitt is a partner at Coplan + Crane and has been admitted to practice in Illinois since 2014. Calls to (708) 671-6858 are answered at any hour, every day. The office is at 60 W Randolph St, Suite 333, Chicago, IL 60601, and nothing you share is passed on.
If you need to talk to someone now, RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 is free and confidential around the clock. If you are in danger, call 911. A hotline call does not affect your legal options.
Attorney advertising. General information only, not legal advice.
