In the news this week, sexual assault charges were brought against a physical therapist at a local hospital center. If the allegations are true, recent changes in employer accountability law mean that the hospital, as the employer, could be held responsible. That also means that the employer’s insurance coverage might be available for damages.
Changes in the law went into effect July 1, 2025, with the passage of the Sexual Assault Employer Accountability Act (HB 1730/SB 894). Under this law, a “vulnerable victim” of sexual assault can hold the employer responsible by showing, among other things, that the assaulter/employee was likely to have access to the victim, failed to control the employee or prevent the assault, and knew of its ability to control and opportunity to control. “Vulnerable victims” include health-care patients, minors, and the disabled, among others.
Prior to this change, the victim would not have been able to hold the hospital responsible. As a practical matter, it would make it difficult to recover at all because the employee likely is not insured for this incident. But now, that victim can attempt to hold the hospital responsible, which also makes its insurance available.
Before passage of the new law, the Supreme Court of Virginia made it difficult – if not impossible – for victims of sexual assault to sue the employer of the assaulter. To prevail, the victim would have to prove that the assault occurred within the scope of employment. But in Parker v. Carilion Clinic, the Court stated: “[i]n many cases, perhaps most, an employee’s intentional torts are purely personal acts and thus not within the scope of employment.”
