Who can you sue after a sexual assault in Texas?
Often the business, property owner or institution that controlled the place and failed to protect you, not only the attacker. An apartment complex, a hotel, a university or an employer can be responsible for its own failures. The evidence that proves it sits in that defendant’s records, and those records are on a timer.
A civil claim is yours to bring, and in most cases it does not depend on an arrest or a conviction. What cannot wait is the surveillance video, the access logs and the incident documentation, which a business can overwrite on its routine schedule within days. Call 713-521-0059.
Why evidence decides these cases
Most sexual assault cases against a business or institution are decided on records you have never seen. The difficult part is proving what the defendant knew and failed to do, and that proof may not exist a month after you call.
What law enforcement collects and holds
If you had a forensic exam, the examiner collected the kit and documented your injuries. If you called 911, there is a recording, and if officers responded there is a report, often with body camera video and interviews. Law enforcement holds all of it, and a civil case can use that material whether or not the district attorney ever files charges. You usually do not need a conviction. See suing without a criminal case. Our pages on how long a rape kit is kept in Texas and what if you showered, waited or never reported explain what you can still do.
What the business or institution holds
The defendant’s own records usually prove the case against it. Surveillance video shows who came and went and whether anyone was watching. Access logs show which doors opened and when, and incident reports show what employees documented that night. Personnel files, training records and prior complaints show what the business knew before it happened to you.
Much of this material is overwritten or discarded on a routine schedule, and some of it within days. Video systems record over themselves, and nobody at the business is considering your case until someone notifies them.
What a preservation letter does
A preservation letter is a written demand that the business keep specific records and video. It identifies the cameras, the access system and the personnel records, so nothing can be treated as an oversight. It goes out first, because the automatic schedule does not stop until the business is notified. Once the business has received the letter, destroying the records can be used against it. That is why it goes out before anything else.
What you can keep yourself
Keep the clothing you wore, unwashed, in a paper bag, and keep every text, photograph and screenshot, including messages you sent afterward. Write down names, times, what people said and where the cameras were, and keep anything placing you at the location. Our page on evidence after a sexual assault goes through what to keep and what disappears.
If it happened in the last few days
- Sexually Assaulted in Houston: What to Do Now The exam, the police report, the video and the first call, in order.
- Houston SANE Exam Locations and Hotlines The 24-hour forensic nurse hotline and every hospital on the police department’s list.
- Do You Have to Report to the Police? Technically no, and why reporting now is usually best for a civil case.
- Who Pays for the Exam? You may not be required to pay for the forensic exam or the kit.
- The Cameras: How Long Before the Video Is Gone? Days, not weeks, unless the business is put on notice in writing.
- The Manager Wants You to Sign Something Why a refund or a comped stay is not compensation, and what a release does.
- The Attacker Was Never Caught A civil claim against the business does not depend on an arrest.
- You Think You Were Drugged Testing is time-sensitive; not remembering does not end a claim.
- It Happened in a Rideshare Last Night Screenshot the trip now; the trip record is the evidence.
- The First 30 Days What usually happens, and what a lawyer does and does not do.
Where it happened
- Civil Claims for Sexual Abuse and Assault in Texas The overview of what a civil claim is and who it reaches.
- Apartment Complex Sexual Assault What your landlord knew about crime on the property.
- Sexually Assaulted at a Hotel or Motel Key card logs, employee access to your room and security.
- Negligent Security When a property owner can be responsible for another’s crime.
- Sexually Assaulted at a Business or on Commercial Property Bars, stores, gyms and offices, and their records.
- Sexual Assault by a Rideshare Driver Trip data, driver screening and what the company keeps about your ride.
- Sexual Assault at a College or University Title IX, campus police and the school’s duties to you.
- Sexual Abuse at a Texas Public School What can be claimed against a district and its employees.
- Sexual Abuse at a Church, Camp or Private School What the organization knew before placing the person near your child.
- Sexual Assault in a Nursing Home Staffing, supervision and the reporting duties a facility owes its residents.
- Sexual Abuse at a Youth Center or Youth Group Screening, supervision rules and how the program responded to your report.
- Sexual Abuse in a Gymnastics or Cheer Program Coaches, private lessons, travel and governing body rules.
- Sexually Assaulted at a Stadium, Arena or Concert Venue Crowd security, alcohol service and the venue’s cameras.
- Sexually Assaulted in a Park Who controlled the park, its lighting and prior reports.
- Sexually Assaulted in a Parking Lot or Garage Lighting, cameras, attendants and what prior crime the operator knew about.
- Civil Claims for Childhood Sexual Abuse Claims brought years later for abuse in your childhood.
- Civil Claims for Human Trafficking Claims against the people and businesses that profited.
- Image Based Sexual Abuse and AI Deepfakes Intimate images shared without consent, including AI generated images.
- Assaulted by a Doctor, Nurse or Therapist in Texas What the hospital, clinic or practice owed you.
Who can be held responsible
- Who Is Responsible for a Sexual Assault on Property How Texas decides when an owner answers for a crime.
- Are the Parents Liable When a Child Sexually Assaults Another Child? When a parent or organization answers for a child’s act.
- Suing Without a Criminal Case Why your claim can proceed with no arrest or conviction.
Your privacy and what the defense can ask for
- Suing Without Your Name How you may be able to file under a pseudonym.
- Will They Ask About My Sex Life or What I Was Drinking? What the defense can ask and what the rules keep out.
- Will They Get My Therapy Records If I Sue? When counseling records can be requested and how to limit that.
- Can They See My Social Media and My Phone? What to stop posting and what the defense may request.
- What Happens at My Deposition, and Who Is in the Room What a deposition is, who attends and how to prepare.
- Can They Make Me Sign an NDA About My Own Abuse? What a settlement can and cannot require you to keep silent about.
- Will My Settlement Be Confidential, and Can They Silence Me? What confidentiality terms usually cover and what you can say.
- I Signed an Arbitration Clause. Can I Still Go to Court? Why an arbitration clause may not bind you in this claim.
What to do next
- Evidence After a Sexual Assault What to keep, what the business holds and what disappears.
- Deadline to Sue for Sexual Abuse How long you usually have to file, and why it varies.
- Texas Crime Victims Compensation A state program that can help with counseling and medical costs.
- Breaking a Lease After a Sexual Assault How you may be able to leave without owing remaining rent.
- Do I Have to Tell My Employer I Was Sexually Assaulted? What you can keep private at work and what leave exists.
- Will Anyone Sign My U Visa Certification in Texas? Who can sign the certification and how you request it.
- What If You Showered, Waited, or Never Reported Why waiting or never reporting usually does not end your claim.
- How Long Is a Rape Kit Kept in Texas? What happens to your kit if you did not report.
- What Happens After You Call The first call, the questionnaire and your call with Mr. Schiffer.
- How Contingency Fees Work What you pay, when, and what happens without a recovery.
For advocates, counselors and SANE nurses
If you are asking on behalf of someone you are helping, you can call with a general question without giving their name. Our page for advocates and SANE nurses explains what a civil claim needs and what cannot wait.
This page is general information about Texas law. It is not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
How Schiffer Law Firm Can Help You
We start with the evidence, because it is on a timer. The first step is written notice to keep the video, the access logs and the personnel records. Then we identify every party that owed you a duty and every policy behind it.
Schiffer Law Firm is a Houston personal injury firm with 50 plus years of combined experience representing injured people and survivors across Texas.
If you are an advocate or a counselor asking on someone’s behalf, you are welcome to call with a general question. We will not ask you for their name.
There is no charge to talk, and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
Call 713-521-0059.
Often the business, property owner or institution that controlled the location and failed to protect you. Our page on who is responsible for a sexual assault on property explains the test.
Usually not. A civil claim is separate from the criminal case and can proceed with no arrest, charge or conviction, and it can use what law enforcement collected. See suing without a criminal case.
The records the business holds, because they are usually erased on a schedule. Surveillance video, access logs and incident reports go first, so a preservation letter should reach the business within days. Our evidence page lists what to keep yourself.
It depends on the claim, the identity of the defendant and your age at the time. Some claims carry a short deadline and some a longer one, and a claim against a public school district or other governmental unit can require early notice, as our page on sexual abuse at a Texas public school explains. Our page on the deadline to sue for sexual abuse explains the periods.
In many cases you may be able to file under initials or a pseudonym, and a court can limit what becomes public, depending on the court and the facts. See suing without your name.
Nothing to talk, and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery. Our page on how contingency fees work explains expenses.