When people think about legal options after a workplace sexual assault, they usually think of human rights charges and harassment law. Those are important. But Illinois also has a separate statute written specifically for gender-related violence, and it can reach people and organizations that other laws do not. For some survivors, the Gender Violence Act is the piece that makes a case complete.
A claim under the Act, like other civil claims, does not depend on a police report, a criminal charge or a conviction. When an employer is involved, the questions remain what the employer knew, what it should have known and what it did.
What the Act Provides
The Illinois Gender Violence Act, found at 740 ILCS 82, allows a person subjected to gender-related violence to bring a civil action for damages, injunctive relief or other relief. It stands as its own claim, separate from an ordinary negligence claim against an institution.
Reaching Those Who Encouraged or Assisted
The Act applies to anyone "perpetrating" gender-related violence, and it defines that term to include not only personally committing the act but also personally encouraging or assisting it. That second category matters in workplace settings. A coworker who helped arrange the circumstances of an assault, or a supervisor who personally encouraged it, may fall within the Act even though they did not commit the assault themselves.
A Separate Route Against Employers
A distinct section of the Act provides a path to hold employers accountable. That section has its own conditions and its own limitation period, which is longer than the period for some of the underlying categories of violence.
Different Categories, Different Clocks
The Act sets different time limits depending on the category of gender-related violence, and a different period again for claims against an employer. When the survivor was a minor at the time the claim arose, the period runs from their 18th birthday rather than from the incident. Because those categories carry different deadlines, figuring out which one applies is worth doing early.
How the Act Fits With Other Workplace Claims
This statute rarely stands alone. The same facts may support a state Human Rights Act charge, which generally has a two-year window, a federal Title VII charge, which generally has a 300-day window, and a direct battery suit against the individual, which for adults is generally limited to two years. The Gender Violence Act can run in parallel, and sometimes it reaches people and organizations those other routes leave out.
When the Person Harmed Was Not an Employee
For a customer, visitor or client assaulted by a worker, the employer can also be liable for negligently hiring or retaining someone it knew or should have known was dangerous. The Gender Violence Act may provide an additional path depending on the facts.
Records That Show What the Employer Knew
HR files, prior complaint records and investigation materials are often the heart of a workplace case. Even an investigation that was opened and closed is a record showing the employer was aware of a problem.
Why Government Immunity Seldom Comes Into Play
Illinois gives public bodies certain protections under its Tort Immunity rules. The businesses, nonprofits and companies where most workplace assaults occur are not public bodies, so those protections generally do not shape the case in the same way. What remains are the familiar questions any institution faces when someone in its workforce harms another person: what it knew, when it knew it and whether its response was reasonable.
Answers About the Gender Violence Act
Someone else at work helped make the assault happen. The Act's reach to people who personally encouraged or assisted the violence may apply. The facts will decide.
I already filed a charge with the state. The Gender Violence Act is a separate claim and may still be available, depending on timing.
What does it cost to explore this? Nothing up front. Cases are handled on contingency, with no fee if there is no recovery.
My memory of the event is incomplete. That is ordinary, and records carry much of the weight.
If You Decide to Call
A call to our office is confidential and carries no obligation. You will not be asked to describe the assault. If you want us to look into it, we examine at no cost which people and organizations may be responsible, what the employer knew, which records exist and which deadlines apply under the Gender Violence Act and other laws. We give you a clear assessment and you decide. If you stop, your information stays private. If you go ahead, we handle the filings, deadlines, records and insurers, and can seek protections for your identity.
Our Office
Coplan + Crane, 60 W Randolph St, Suite 333, Chicago, IL 60601, answers (708) 671-6858 at every hour. Partner Ervin Nevitt has held his Illinois law license since 2014.
Free, confidential support is available any time from RAINN at 1-800-656-4673. If you are unsafe, call 911. A hotline call does not affect any legal option.
Attorney advertising. Content is for general education and is not legal advice.
