What Rights Do Nevada Employees Have After Workplace Sexual Assault?
Nevada employees affected by sexual assault can have rights involving workplace accommodations, protected leave, freedom from retaliation, and employment discrimination or harassment laws. Employment rights, civil claims, and criminal proceedings are separate legal avenues, so pursuing one is not necessarily required to pursue another.
Sexual assault connected to the workplace can leave an employee facing difficult decisions about personal safety, medical care, work, reporting, and legal action at the same time. Nevada law provides specific employment protections for sexual assault survivors, including qualifying rights to reasonable accommodations and leave.
An assault can also implicate state and federal harassment or discrimination laws when it occurs in connection with employment. Understanding these overlapping protections can help survivors make informed decisions without assuming that they must follow one particular sequence of steps.
Key Takeaways
- Nevada law provides qualifying sexual assault survivors with rights to reasonable workplace accommodations and protected leave.
- Employment rights do not necessarily depend on first reporting an assault to police or obtaining a criminal conviction.
- Employment claims, civil lawsuits, and criminal proceedings are distinct legal processes that can arise from the same assault.
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What Counts as Workplace Sexual Assault in Nevada?
Workplace sexual assault is not limited to an assault that occurs inside an office, store, factory, or other traditional worksite. An assault can raise employment-law issues when it occurs during business travel, at a conference, at an employer-sponsored event, at a client's location, in employer-provided lodging, or in another employment-related setting.
The perpetrator does not necessarily have to be a supervisor or coworker. Depending on the circumstances, misconduct involving a customer, client, contractor, vendor, or another person encountered in the course of work can also raise employment law questions.
Sexual assault and sexual harassment are not interchangeable terms. Sexual harassment encompasses a broader range of prohibited sex-based conduct and does not require a physical assault. Sexual assault can also constitute serious workplace harassment and implicate additional employment protections.
What Employment Rights Do Nevada Sexual Assault Survivors Have?
Nevada law specifically protects qualifying employees affected by sexual assault. These protections address more than whether an employer caused or could have prevented an assault. They also regulate how an employer treats a survivor afterward.
For example, Nevada law provides qualifying rights concerning reasonable workplace accommodations and leave. It also prohibits employers from taking specified adverse employment actions against employees because they exercised certain protected rights or because an act constituting sexual assault was committed against them in the workplace.
Other state and federal employment laws can apply when an assault constitutes unlawful workplace harassment or when an employer retaliates against an employee for protected activity.
Skilled Nevada employment lawyers can evaluate how these protections interact when an employee's circumstances involve multiple employment issues.
Can You Request a Workplace Accommodation After Sexual Assault?
Yes. Under NRS 613.222, Nevada employers must provide qualifying employees who are victims of sexual assault with reasonable accommodations that do not create an undue hardship for the employer. The statute also protects employees whose qualifying family or household members are victims.
The appropriate accommodation depends on the employee's circumstances and safety needs. Nevada law identifies examples, including:
- A transfer or reassignment
- A modified work schedule
- A new work telephone number
- Another reasonable safety-related accommodation
An employer can request qualifying documentation supporting the need for an accommodation.
A survivor should not assume that the only choices are to continue under the same working conditions or to leave the job. Nevada law recognizes that workplace changes can sometimes help protect an employee's safety while allowing the employee to continue working.
Can You Take Leave After Sexual Assault in Nevada?
Nevada law also provides qualifying employees with leave related to domestic violence or sexual assault.
Depending on the statutory requirements and circumstances, qualifying leave can be used for purposes such as obtaining medical care or counseling, participating in court proceedings, or establishing a safety plan.
Eligibility and notice requirements matter. The circumstances of the assault, the employee's relationship to the victim when the employee is not the direct victim, and the reason for the requested absence can affect whether statutory protection applies.
Other leave protections can also overlap with Nevada law when an employee develops a qualifying physical or mental health condition following an assault.
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After a Workplace Sexual Assault, You May Face Several Separate Decisions
One of the most important things to understand after workplace sexual assault is that there is not necessarily a single legal sequence every survivor must follow.
A survivor might be deciding whether to:
- Obtain medical care or counseling
- Report the assault internally
- Request an accommodation or leave
- Make a police report
- Pursue an employment claim
- Consider a separate civil claim
These decisions can affect one another, but they are not necessarily prerequisites for one another.
For example, an employee does not automatically lose employment protections by deciding not to make an immediate police report. Likewise, reporting an assault to Human Resources does not automatically initiate a criminal prosecution or preserve all deadlines for filing an external employment claim.
The best course depends on the survivor's priorities, safety concerns, employment circumstances, available evidence, and potential legal claims.
Do You Have to Report Workplace Sexual Assault to HR?
You do not have to wait until after making an internal report to seek legal advice. Whether and how to report misconduct internally is an important decision because an employer's knowledge can become relevant to certain employment claims. A report can also put an employer on notice of a need for investigation, safety measures, or workplace accommodations.
Employees who decide to report should, when appropriate, follow applicable workplace procedures and retain a lawful copy of their complaint or any other documentation available to them.
However, an internal complaint is not the same as filing a charge with a government agency. Employees should not assume an employer's investigation stops an external filing deadline from running.
Do You Have to File a Police Report to Protect Your Employment Rights?
No. A police report is not universally required before an employee can exercise workplace rights related to sexual assault.
Criminal law and employment law serve different purposes. Police and prosecutors investigate potential crimes, while employment claims address legal rights and responsibilities arising from the employment relationship.
A police report can provide evidence and potentially lead to a criminal investigation, but the absence of criminal charges or a conviction does not automatically mean an employee has a viable employment claim. Survivors can seek advice about their employment rights separately from deciding whether to participate in the criminal justice process.
Can an Assault During a Work Trip or Company Event Create Workplace Claims?
Yes, depending on the circumstances. Employment does not stop at the physical boundary of an employer's premises. Employees can encounter supervisors, coworkers, customers, and other work-related contacts while traveling, attending conferences, participating in company events, or performing duties at other locations.
An employment connection alone does not automatically make an employer legally responsible for an assault. Relevant questions can include who committed the misconduct, the person's relationship to the employer, whether there were previous warning signs, what management knew, and how the employer responded.
These facts require individual analysis rather than a rule based solely on where the assault occurred.
Can Your Employer Retaliate Against You After Workplace Sexual Assault?
Nevada and federal laws protect employees from retaliation for exercising certain employment rights or opposing unlawful workplace conduct. Nevada law also contains protections specifically related to sexual assault. NRS 613.223 prohibits specified adverse employment actions for reasons including requesting a qualifying accommodation, using qualifying protected leave, participating in certain court proceedings, or being sexually assaulted in the workplace.
Retaliation does not always take the form of immediate termination. Relevant changes can involve hours, assignments, responsibilities, discipline, evaluations, promotion opportunities, or other employment actions.
A workplace change occurring after a report does not automatically establish retaliation. The reason for the employer's decision matters.
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What Evidence Can Matter After Workplace Sexual Assault?
Survivors do not need to assemble all the evidence before seeking legal advice. Some important evidence may be controlled by the employer or another party.
Depending on the circumstances, evidence can include:
- Emails, texts, or workplace messages
- Security or surveillance footage
- Key-card or building-access records
- Work schedules and time records
- Travel, hotel, or expense records
- Witness information
- Internal complaints and employer responses
- Earlier complaints involving the same person
- Employer investigation materials
Preservation can matter because some evidence is temporary. Surveillance footage can be overwritten, electronic records can be deleted under ordinary retention practices, and witnesses can leave the organization.
Employees should preserve evidence they are lawfully entitled to possess, but should not improperly access restricted systems or remove privileged or confidential employer materials.
How Are Employment Claims, Civil Lawsuits, and Criminal Cases Different?
A single workplace sexual assault can potentially implicate three distinct legal systems.
Employment claims address rights arising from the employment relationship. They can involve harassment, employer responsibility, accommodations, leave, retaliation, or other workplace protections.
Civil lawsuits can seek to hold a perpetrator or another legally responsible party accountable for injuries and losses caused by the assault.
Criminal proceedings are brought by the government to determine criminal responsibility and, when appropriate, impose criminal penalties.
These processes can involve some of the same facts and evidence, but one does not automatically resolve the others. A decision in one system also should not be assumed to determine every legal issue arising under another.
How Long Do You Have to Protect Your Legal Rights?
Deadlines vary because workplace sexual assault can give rise to different employment and civil claims.
For qualifying federal employment discrimination or harassment claims in Nevada, an employee generally has 300 days from the alleged unlawful employment practice to file an EEOC charge. Nevada administrative employment claims can also have specific filing requirements.
Civil claims arising from the assault can be governed by different statutes of limitations.
Survivors should not assume that an HR investigation, criminal investigation, accommodation request, or discussions with an employer pause another filing deadline. Determining which claims apply is important because each legal avenue can operate on its own timetable.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Nevada Workplace Sexual Assault Rights
Can I have employment rights if a coworker assaulted me outside normal work hours?
Yes, depending on the connection between the assault and employment. Conduct occurring during business travel, employer events, or other work-related circumstances can raise employment issues even outside ordinary working hours.
What if my employer says it investigated and could not prove what happened?
An employer's internal conclusion does not automatically determine whether an employee has legal rights or a viable claim. Other evidence can exist, and different legal proceedings apply their own standards.
Can I request an accommodation if the person who assaulted me does not work for my employer?
Nevada's sexual assault accommodation protections are not limited to situations in which the perpetrator is a coworker. Whether a particular accommodation is required depends on the statutory requirements, the employee's circumstances, and whether the accommodation is reasonable and does not create an undue hardship.
Can my employer require documentation for a sexual assault accommodation?
Nevada law permits employers to require qualifying documentation supporting the reason for an accommodation. The type of documentation and how an employer handles it are governed by applicable legal requirements.
What if I am afraid that reporting the assault will hurt my career?
Nevada and federal law prohibit qualifying retaliation for protected activity, and Nevada provides additional protections specifically related to sexual assault. Employees concerned about how an employer may respond can seek legal advice before deciding how to proceed.
Contact the Team at Greenberg Gross, LLP to Learn More About Your Rights After a Nevada Workplace Sexual Assault
Workplace sexual assault can create employment, safety, civil, and criminal concerns at the same time. You do not need to determine on your own which laws apply or possess every piece of evidence before speaking with an attorney.
The Nevada workplace sexual assault lawyers at Greenberg Gross LLP can evaluate your employment rights, identify potentially responsible parties, preserve relevant evidence, and pursue available claims. Call (702) 777-0888 or contact us online for a free, confidential consultation.