If a teacher sexually abused you or your child in California, the law may allow a civil lawsuit for money damages against the teacher and, in many cases, against the school or district that employed them. How much time remains depends on when the abuse happened and who the defendant is. A criminal conviction is not required.
What 'Abused by a Teacher' Means Under California Law
California law recognizes three broad kinds of harm a teacher can cause a student: sexual abuse, physical abuse, and emotional or psychological abuse. This site focuses on sexual abuse, which California civil law treats under its own statute and deadlines.
That statute is Code of Civil Procedure section 340.1. In plain terms, "childhood sexual assault" means sexual conduct against a person under 18 that California criminal law prohibits, including molestation, lewd conduct with a minor, and certain other offenses the statute lists by section number. The definition also covers earlier California laws of similar effect, so older abuse is not excluded because a statute was later renumbered.
California courts recognize a special relationship between a school and its students, sometimes described as in loco parentis (Latin for "in the place of a parent"). That duty is what allows a claim to reach the institution and not only the individual.
The core deadline rules under section 340.1 apply at public, charter, private and religious schools alike. Our guide to teacher sexual abuse covers these settings further.
How California Law Protects Students: Mandatory Reporting and School District Duties
Under Penal Code section 11165.7, a "mandated reporter" includes any employee, volunteer or governing board member of a school district, county office of education, charter school or private school. The duty applies to suspected abuse by anyone, including a colleague.
Penal Code section 11166 sets out what a mandated reporter must do. The statute reads, in part:
"The mandated reporter shall make an initial report by telephone to the agency immediately or as soon as is practicably possible, and shall prepare and send, fax, or electronically transmit a written followup report within 36 hours of receiving the information concerning the incident."
The trigger is "reasonable suspicion," which the statute says "does not require certainty that child abuse or neglect has occurred." The report goes to an outside agency, such as law enforcement or the county child welfare agency. Telling a principal is not the same as making a report to those agencies.
Separately, California law places a duty on school districts and their staff to supervise students and protect them from foreseeable harm. Two legal theories usually describe how a district breaches that duty:
- Negligent supervision: failing to watch over students, or the teacher, closely enough to prevent harm the district could have anticipated.
- Negligent hiring or retention: hiring someone without adequate screening, or keeping them on after warning signs appeared.
The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing is the state body that can suspend or revoke a teacher's credential.
The Statute of Limitations for Teacher Abuse Claims in California
A statute of limitations is the deadline for filing a lawsuit. For childhood sexual assault, California's deadline depends first on when the abuse happened.
Abuse on or after January 1, 2024. Section 340.1 now states there is "no time limit" to sue the person who committed the abuse, or a person or entity whose negligent or intentional act was a legal cause of it. This change came from AB 452. It applies only to abuse occurring on and after January 1, 2024. AB 452 did not revive older claims.
Abuse on or before December 31, 2023. These claims are governed by section 340.1 as it read on December 31, 2023. Under that version, a survivor may generally file until age 40, or within five years of discovering that a psychological injury was caused by the abuse, whichever is later. The discovery rule (counting the clock from when the connection was discovered, not from the date of the abuse) means some survivors well past 40 may still have time. A separate three-year revival window under AB 218 closed on December 31, 2022.
A plaintiff who is 40 or older when the case is filed must also file certificates of merit, which are sworn statements from the attorney and a licensed mental health practitioner that the case has reasonable and meritorious cause.
Claims against public school districts. Under the Government Claims Act, filing a government claim first is generally required for damages claims against local public entities. But Government Code section 905(m) exempts "claims made pursuant to Section 340.1 of the Code of Civil Procedure for the recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual assault." Section 340.1 itself also states that such a claim need not be presented to a government entity before suit, and a local entity cannot impose its own claim procedure instead. That exemption has no condition tied to the date of the abuse; section 905(p) made it retroactive.
One distinction matters here. Section 905 governs local public entities. The State itself, which operates certain schools such as state special schools, follows a different claims statute with no matching exemption. For a State defendant, the exemption comes from section 340.1 and reaches only abuse on or after January 1, 2024. Establishing whether a defendant is a local entity or the State is the first step.
The full timeline is in our guide to the California sexual abuse statute of limitations.