People who are sexually assaulted by a coworker, supervisor or client often need time before they can think about legal action. They are dealing with the trauma itself, with fear of losing their job and with the daily reality of returning to the same building or the same team. That need for time is completely understandable. Unfortunately, the deadlines that govern workplace claims in Illinois are not built around it. Some of them are measured in days, not years.
A police report is not required, and there does not need to be a criminal charge. What a civil claim examines is the employer: what it knew, what it should have known and what it did. But the window to bring those claims can close quickly.
Why Workplace Deadlines Differ From Childhood Claims
Illinois has largely removed the time limit for claims based on childhood sexual abuse, subject to an important qualification for older claims. Adult workplace claims are treated very differently. The periods are short, and missing one can end a claim regardless of how strong the facts are. That contrast is the single biggest reason to ask about your options soon.
Deadline One: Illinois Human Rights Act
A charge under the Illinois Human Rights Act must generally be filed within two years. Charges are filed with the Illinois Department of Human Rights. That two-year period took effect on January 1, 2025, replacing a shorter 300-day window, so anyone relying on older information may be working from outdated rules.
Deadline Two: Title VII
A federal charge under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act must generally be filed within 300 days. Federal charges go through the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Title VII generally covers employers with 15 or more employees, so it may not be available against a smaller business.
Deadline Three: The Assault Itself
Separately, a civil claim for the assault itself, brought directly against the person who committed it, is generally subject to a two-year limit for adults.
The Gender Violence Act Has Its Own Clocks
Illinois' Gender Violence Act, 740 ILCS 82, offers yet another route, and it uses different limitation periods depending on the category of gender-related violence involved. Claims against an employer under that Act have a separate period of their own. Where the person was a minor when the claim arose, the period runs from their 18th birthday. Sorting out which category applies is something to do early, not late.
Why Multiple Clocks Can Run at Once
These routes are not mutually exclusive. One workplace assault might support an Illinois Human Rights Act charge, a Title VII charge, a civil assault claim against the individual and a Gender Violence Act claim, all with different start dates and end dates. A lawyer can map those timelines against your facts so that no option lapses while you are deciding.
Who the Claims Target
Workers who were assaulted by a colleague or boss typically pursue the company under one of the two harassment statutes, the state Human Rights Act or federal Title VII, while bringing any battery claim directly against the individual. Customers, clients and visitors are in a different position: their claim against the business usually rests on whether it should never have hired, or should have let go, a worker it had reason to see as dangerous. Since few employers are government entities, public-body immunity seldom changes the analysis.
Records That Help Even When Time Is Short
Personnel files, past grievances and the notes from any internal inquiry live on the employer's servers and in its filing cabinets. Even an inquiry that ended without discipline documents that management was put on notice. Because those materials sit in the company's control, having a lawyer send an early demand to preserve them can matter, which is one more reason not to wait.
Timing Questions
It happened more than a year ago. Is it too late? Not necessarily. The two-year state periods may still be open, depending on the dates.
I reported internally to HR. Does that stop the clock? An internal complaint does not, by itself, satisfy the state or federal filing requirements. The deadlines run separately.
What will it cost to find out? Nothing up front. The firm works on contingency, so there is no fee without a recovery.
I don't remember every detail. That is normal. Claims are built mostly from records, not from a perfect account.
A Quick First Conversation
Because the clocks are short, a prompt call can protect options you might otherwise lose. You will speak with a person and will not be asked to recount the assault. If you want, we will look into which employer or organization had a duty, what it knew, what records exist and which deadlines apply, without charge. We give you a straight answer, and you decide. If you stop, your information stays confidential. If you go ahead, we handle filings, deadlines, records and insurers, and can seek protection for your identity.
Reach the Firm
Coplan + Crane partner Ervin Nevitt, licensed in Illinois since 2014, works from 60 W Randolph St, Suite 333, Chicago, IL 60601. Someone answers (708) 671-6858 at every hour.
RAINN offers free, confidential support at 1-800-656-4673, day or night. Call 911 if you are in danger. Speaking with RAINN has no effect on a legal claim.
Attorney advertising. Deadlines depend on specific facts; this is general information, not legal advice.
