College campuses in San Diego are workplaces for thousands of faculty, staff, administrators, researchers, and student-employees. When sexual assault happens in that environment, the legal picture involves overlapping protections that most people do not know exist.
San Diego college campus sexual assault attorneys at Haeggquist & Eck help survivors working at universities, community colleges, and other educational institutions understand which legal pathways may apply to their situation. Call (619) 342-8000 to discuss your options with our team.
Contact us online or call (619) 342-8000 for a free initial case evaluation to learn more about how we can help you during this sensitive time.
Sexual assault on a college campus may trigger legal protections that do not apply in other employment settings.
Faculty, staff, and student-employees at San Diego institutions like UC San Diego, San Diego State University, the University of San Diego, and the San Diego Community College District work in environments governed by multiple overlapping legal frameworks.
Those frameworks include California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Each law addresses sexual harassment and assault through different mechanisms, different filing procedures, and different standards of proof.
Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in any educational program or activity that receives federal funding. That protection extends to employees, not just students.
Faculty and staff who experience sexual harassment or assault may file a complaint with the campus Title IX Coordinator, submit a complaint to the U.S. Department of Education, or pursue a lawsuit directly.
Unlike employment claims under FEHA or Title VII, Title IX does not require filing with an administrative agency before bringing a lawsuit. That procedural difference may matter for campus employees weighing their options after an assault.
FEHA provides broader protections than federal laws like Title VII and Title IX in several key ways.
First, FEHA’s harassment protections are broader than Title VII. Title VII applies only to employers with 15 or more employees. Additionally, FEHA explicitly mandates employer accountability for harassment by nonemployees, such as students, creating specific, robust state-level protections that work in tandem with federal laws.
This combination allows campus employees to pursue comprehensive legal remedies that are not available under federal statutes alone.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act applies to employers with 15 or more employees and prohibits sex-based discrimination, including sexual harassment and assault.
Faculty and staff at educational institutions may pursue claims under both Title IX and Title VII, and courts in many jurisdictions have allowed employees to file under both statutes.
The overlap means campus employees facing sexual assault may have more legal options than they realize. It also means the filing requirements, deadlines, and strategic considerations differ depending on which claims are pursued.
California imposes specific duties on employers when sexual assault occurs in the workplace. These obligations apply to every college and university in San Diego County, regardless of whether the institution is public or private.
When a supervisor sexually assaults an employee, the employer is automatically liable under FEHA. The institution does not need to have known about the assault for this liability to attach. On a college campus, “supervisor” may include department heads, program directors, lab supervisors, and anyone with authority over the employee’s work conditions.
FEHA also addresses assault by nonemployees, including students. Under Government Code § 12940(j)(1), an employer may be liable for harassment by a nonemployee if the employer knew or had reason to know about the conduct and failed to take immediate corrective action.
For campus employees assaulted by students, this provision may create institutional liability when the college had notice of the student’s behavior and failed to act.
Under Government Code § 12940(k), employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment and discrimination. On a college campus, that duty may include mandatory training, clear reporting procedures, adequate security staffing, and responsive complaint resolution systems.
A campus that lacks these measures may face liability even if it claims ignorance of a specific incident.
Campus sexual assault claims often involve more moving parts than a typical workplace harassment case. Between internal Title IX processes, state agency filings, and potential federal claims, survivors need legal counsel that understands how these systems interact and where they fall short.
Haeggquist & Eck is a women-owned employment law firm that has represented individuals against institutional employers since 2008. Managing Partner Alreen Haeggquist founded the firm to stand with workers facing harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.
For campus employees, that means working with attorneys who recognize how academic hierarchies, tenure politics, and institutional self-protection may shape an employer’s response to a sexual assault report.
When a campus employee has options under FEHA, Title IX, and Title VII, each pathway carries its own filing requirements, evidentiary standards, and potential outcomes. Our attorneys evaluate which combination of claims fits the facts rather than defaulting to a single track.
That analysis accounts for the identity of the perpetrator, the institution’s response, any retaliation that followed, and the survivor’s priorities for the outcome.
Our firm limits the number of cases each attorney handles at any given time. For campus sexual assault claims, that structure matters because these cases often require close coordination across institutional timelines, agency deadlines, and evolving facts. We stay responsive throughout the process rather than handing cases off to rotating staff.
We are here for you whenever you feel ready. Please call our college campus sexual assault lawyers in San Diego at (619) 342-8000, and we will move forward at a pace that feels right for you.
Campus employees have several reporting options. Each one serves a different purpose, and some may be pursued simultaneously.
Understanding which combination of these pathways fits your situation is one of the first things an employment attorney may help you sort through.
A: No. A Title IX investigation is an internal campus process. It does not substitute for an employment harassment claim under FEHA or Title VII. The Title IX process may run alongside a state or federal employment claim, but the two operate under different standards, different procedures, and different potential remedies.
A: Maybe. Graduate teaching assistants, research assistants, and other student-employees may qualify as employees under FEHA depending on the nature of the working relationship. Factors such as compensation, supervision, and the degree of institutional control over work duties may be relevant. An attorney may evaluate whether you have employment protections.
A: Discouraging an employee from reporting sexual harassment or assault may itself constitute a violation of California law. FEHA prohibits retaliation against employees who engage in protected activity, which includes making a complaint. If your institution pressured you to stay silent, that conduct may be relevant to both the underlying claim and a separate retaliation claim.
Building a record of what happened may strengthen a legal claim, whether the survivor pursues an internal campus process, files with a state or federal agency, or pursues a civil lawsuit. Campus environments present specific documentation considerations that differ from other workplaces.
Record the date, time, building, floor, and room where the assault occurred. Note your shift or schedule, the event you were attending, and your role at the time. Campus locations matter because they may determine which institutional office has jurisdiction over the complaint.
Save any emails, messages, or written reports exchanged with department chairs, HR, the Title IX office, or other administrators. Written records of when you notified the institution create a timeline that may become critical to establishing employer knowledge.
Identify anyone who may have been nearby, including students, other staff, or campus security. Many campus buildings have security cameras, and footage may be available for a limited time if a preservation request is made promptly.
Keeping personal copies of these records outside of campus email systems and institutional databases helps protect access if employment circumstances change.
Sexual assault on campus affects more than students. Full-time faculty, adjunct instructors, administrative staff, custodial and maintenance workers, campus security personnel, research assistants, graduate teaching assistants, and student-employees all work in campus environments where assault may occur.
The perpetrator may be a colleague, a supervisor, a student, or someone else present on campus. Under FEHA, an employer’s obligation to prevent and address harassment extends to conduct by nonemployees when the employer knew or had reason to know about the behavior.
Academic institutions often have rigid hierarchies that complicate reporting. A tenured professor who assaults a junior faculty member, a department chair who targets administrative staff, or a principal investigator who assaults a graduate research assistant each creates a situation where the power imbalance may discourage reporting.
These dynamics are not unique to higher education, but the tenure system, grant-funding dependencies, and small departmental structures in academic settings may intensify the fear of professional retaliation.
Many people working on San Diego college campuses hold dual roles. Graduate teaching assistants, work-study participants, and resident advisors function as both students and employees. That dual status may mean protections under both Title IX (as students) and FEHA (as employees) apply simultaneously.
Determining which protections are strongest in a given situation often requires legal analysis specific to the facts. The campus Title IX process and a state employment claim operate under different procedures and may produce different remedies.
It depends. The strongest legal path depends on the specific facts, including who committed the assault, your employment status, and how the institution responded. FEHA, Title IX, and Title VII each provide different remedies and follow different procedures. An attorney may review the circumstances and recommend which combination of claims best fits the situation.
A successful claim may result in damages for lost wages, emotional distress, medical costs, and other harms connected to the assault and the employer’s failure to prevent it. Punitive damages may also be available in cases involving particularly egregious institutional conduct. The amount depends on the facts and the legal theories pursued.
You still have a claim. Tenure does not shield a faculty member from accountability for sexual assault. FEHA holds individual harassers personally liable for their conduct, regardless of their employment status. The institution may also face liability if it knew about the faculty member’s behavior and failed to act, or if the perpetrator held supervisory authority over the employee.
Yes. A CRD complaint is a state administrative filing under FEHA that may lead to an investigation by a government agency and may be a prerequisite to a civil lawsuit. A Title IX complaint is an internal institutional process governed by federal regulations and the campus’s own policies.
An institution that receives a report of sexual assault and fails to take prompt corrective action may face liability under FEHA, Title IX, or both. The adequacy of the institutional response is often a central issue in campus sexual assault claims. If you reported and saw no meaningful action, that lack of response may strengthen a legal claim.
Haeggquist & Eck was founded on the principle that no one should have to stand up to institutional misconduct alone.
Our firm was built in 2008 by Managing Partner Alreen Haeggquist specifically to represent individuals facing workplace harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. For campus employees, that means working with attorneys who understand both employment law and the institutional dynamics unique to colleges and universities.
If you are a survivor of sexual assault at a San Diego college or university and want to understand your legal options, call (619) 342-8000 to speak with our compassionate college campus sexual assault attorneys.
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