Can I sue my employer if I was sexually assaulted at work in Illinois?

Isn't this a harassment claim?

It's that too. HR will call it harassment, and so will the state's charge form. A charge with the Illinois Department of Human Rights is due within two years (775 ILCS 5/7A-102(A)(1)), and a charge with the EEOC within 300 days in Illinois (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e)(1)). Both are aimed at the employer and at what happened to your job.

If he put his hands on you, it is also a battery. Illinois has a separate statute for that.

What does the Gender Violence Act cover?

It covers a battery committed at least in part because of your sex, and a physical intrusion of a sexual nature under coercive conditions, whether or not anyone was charged with a crime (740 ILCS 82/5). A court can award actual damages, emotional distress damages, punitive damages, and attorney's fees (740 ILCS 82/15).

When is the employer liable?

Three things have to be true (740 ILCS 82/11). It happened in the workplace, during an interaction that came out of the job. The employer acted unreasonably. And the employer either failed to supervise, train or monitor him, or received reports of similar conduct and didn't investigate and fix the problem.

The first route has a built-in defense. An employer accused of failing to supervise, train or monitor can escape liability by showing it provided the sexual harassment prevention training the Human Rights Act requires (740 ILCS 82/11(b)(1)). Expect the company to produce training records early. Whether the training actually happened, and whether he took it, are fair questions.

Reports count when they went to a supervisor, a manager, an owner, or whoever the employer designated to take them (740 ILCS 82/11(b)(2)). So the first question in these cases is who complained about him before you did, and who they told.

What did the 2026 appellate decision change?

It showed how courts will read the employer section. A patient at a treatment facility alleged that she reported an employee to a director, was told to keep her distance from him, and was assaulted by him again. The trial court dismissed her claims against the facility. The appellate court reinstated them. It also held that the assault itself doesn't have to be part of the employee's job. It is enough that he was doing his job when it happened (Jane Doe J.P. v. TK Behavioral, LLC, 2026 IL App (1st) 251028, ¶¶ 20, 28, 32).

The ruling came at the pleading stage. The court decided that her complaint stated a claim, not that the facility was liable. She still has to prove it.

Does the law apply if I was a patient or a customer?

The plaintiff in that case was a patient. The section covers violence committed in the workplace by an employee or agent of the employer (740 ILCS 82/11(a)), and the court applied it to her claim.

How long do I have?

Four years to sue the employer under this statute. Seven to sue the person who did it. Two if the claim is based on a threat. If you were a minor when it happened, each of those periods runs from your eighteenth birthday (740 ILCS 82/20).

Compare that with the two-year charge deadline. Someone who is past the window for a harassment charge may still have this claim.

One date matters for the employer claim. The employer section took effect January 1, 2024. Whether it reaches an assault that happened before then has not been settled. If yours did, raise it with a lawyer at the first meeting.

Will workers' comp or an arbitration clause block my case?

Expect the company to say workers' comp is your only remedy against it. That argument has worked against common-law claims over a coworker's intentional act, unless the employer commanded or expressly authorized it (Meerbrey v. Marshall Field & Co., 139 Ill. 2d 455 (1990)). A federal court in Illinois applied it in 2025 to dismiss a negligent supervision claim over a coworker's sexual assault (Cosenza v. Rivian Automotive, LLC, No. 1:23-cv-01297 (C.D. Ill. Apr. 24, 2025)).

Whether the same bar reaches the statutory claim under the Gender Violence Act has not been settled. The 2026 appellate decision didn't reach it, because the plaintiff there was a patient. It is a reason to get a trial lawyer involved early.

An arbitration agreement is less of a problem than it used to be. Under federal law, a person alleging sexual assault or sexual harassment can choose court over a pre-dispute arbitration agreement, and a judge decides whether the law applies. It covers claims that arose on or after March 3, 2022 (9 U.S.C. § 402).

What should I do this week?

• Write down the date, where it happened, and who was nearby.
• List anyone you know who complained about him before, and who they complained to.
• Keep every text and message. Don't delete anything, including the ones you'd rather not see again.

Working with GB Law

GB Law starts with the facts and tells you which claims you have. Where a claim belongs with a trial firm or another attorney we work with, we make the introduction and you know who is handling what.

Questions people ask

Do I need a police report or a conviction?

No. The statute applies whether or not the conduct led to charges, prosecution or conviction (740 ILCS 82/5).

I told a manager and nothing happened. Does that help my case?

It may be the center of it. An employer that receives a report of similar conduct, fails to investigate, and takes no remedial measures meets one of the statute's two routes to liability (740 ILCS 82/11(b)(2)).

It happened in the parking lot, or at a work party. Does that count?

The statute's definition of workplace includes parking areas under the employer's control and employer-sponsored events off the premises (740 ILCS 82/5).

What can a court award?

Actual damages, damages for emotional distress, punitive damages, and attorney's fees and costs (740 ILCS 82/15).