If you were sexually assaulted as an 18-year-old or older adult in California, and someone once told you it was too late to do anything about it, that may no longer be true.

A new state law called AB 250 (Assembly Bill 250) reopened the courthouse doors for adult survivors on January 1, 2026. It gives people whose legal deadline had already passed a fresh chance to file a civil case. This lookback window is open right now, and it closes for good at the end of December 2027.

What AB 250 Actually Does

For years, California’s law gave adult survivors of sexual assault a fairly short window to file a civil case. Once that window closed, the case was over before it began, even if the survivor wasn’t ready, even if they’d just learned the truth, even if the institution that enabled the harm had spent years burying it.

AB 250, the Justice for Survivors of Sexual Assault Act, was passed by the California legislature and signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on October 13, 2025. It creates a special two-year revival window. During that window, survivors whose old filing deadline had run out can file civil lawsuits while this window is open.

This law allows survivors to sue two kinds of defendants:

1. The person who committed the assault, and
2. The private organization that helped keep it quiet, be it an employer, a private school, a hospital, a hotel, a church, and the like.

This two-year window opened January 1, 2026 and closes December 31, 2027.

Who This Law Is For

You may be eligible if all of the following are true:

• You were 18 or older when the assault happened.
• You were assaulted in California, or by someone or some company connected to California.
• Your legal deadline to file had already passed under the old rules.

Notably, it does not matter how long ago the assault happened. AB 250 reaches back without a cutoff. Some survivors have come forward decades after the fact, and the law was written with them in mind.

A few examples of people this law was built for:

• A hotel housekeeper assaulted by a manager in 2007, which was too far back for the older revival law, is now eligible under AB 250.
• A nurse assaulted by a senior doctor in 2013 had signed an NDA–heavy settlement, and is just now learning other coworkers were harmed by the same person.
• A private school teacher assaulted by a board member many years ago, whose case had long since been declared “too old” by the old rules.

A separate California law, AB 218, covers people who were sexually abused as children. That’s a different track with its own rules, and it’s still available at this time. AB 250 is specifically designed for adult survivors.

Why the Word “Cover-Up” Matters for This Law

To pursue a civil case against an institution under AB 250, the law asks you to show that the institution engaged in a cover-up. That word can sound dramatic, but the legal definition is broader and more familiar than people expect.
The statute defines a cover-up as a “concerted effort to hide evidence relating to a sexual assault” that keeps people quiet or keeps the truth from going public. That includes the use of nondisclosure agreements and confidentiality clauses, which are very common.

In real life, a cover-up looks like this:

• Settlement agreements with NDAs that prevent survivors from speaking
• Internal investigations that quietly close without consequences
• Personnel files that get cleaned up so no record of complaints survives
• Transferring a known abuser to another office, location, or affiliated company
• Punishing the people who reported with demotions, terminations, or by pushing them out
• Public statements denying knowledge that don’t match what the company’s own emails show
• A pattern of multiple victims with similar stories that the institution treated the same way

You don’t need to have all of this evidence in hand before you talk to a lawyer. A good attorney will know how to look for it. Many cover-ups only come fully into view through the legal discovery process of issuing subpoenas, conducting depositions, and making document requests.

One important detail is that the cover-up requirement applies to claims against the institution. The person who actually committed the assault can still be sued under this revival window even if they personally weren’t part of the cover-up, as long as a proper claim is also brought against the institution.

What AB 250 Does Not Cover

AB 250 applies to private organizations. It does not apply to public or government defendants. That means the law cannot be used to revive a case against:

• Public school districts
• The University of California system
• Police departments
• County hospitals
• State agencies
• City or county employers

This was a compromise that allowed the bill to pass. If your case involves a public institution, please don’t assume your options are gone. There are other legal paths that are available. For example, government tort claim procedures, special rules for cases involving law–enforcement officers, and the regular discovery rules may still allow filing a case. An experienced attorney can walk you through what’s still possible, and what options are available to you.

The Two Windows Running at the Same Time

There’s one more piece worth understanding clearly, because it confuses a lot of people.

California has two adult–survivor revival windows running simultaneously through 2026:

• AB 2777, the older law, runs through December 31, 2026. It covers assaults that happened on or after January 1, 2009.
• AB 250, the newer law, runs through December 31, 2027. It reaches back further than 2009, but requires a cover-up allegation against the institution.

If your assault happened in, say, 2015, you may qualify under either or both. Determining which one is the better fit depends on the specifics. If your assault happened before 2009, AB 250 would be the right path. A free consultation with an attorney can sort this out for you in a single phone call.

Please Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute

Two years on the calendar is not two years for a real case. Putting together a sexual assault civil claim, especially one involving an institution, takes time. Attorneys need to gather records, send subpoenas, take depositions, and track down witnesses who may have moved on long ago. All of that has to happen before the case is in any kind of strong shape.

The longer survivors wait, the harder this gets. Documents get destroyed. People retire, move, or pass away. Companies merge, dissolve, or shed their old liability. The institution’s lawyers know all of this, and time is on their side, not yours.
Filing sooner creates leverage. It also means more space to handle the case carefully, with attention to your well-being instead of a calendar emergency.

You Don’t Have to Decide Anything Today

You don’t have to know yet whether you want to file. You don’t have to be sure of dates, names, or what evidence might exist. You don’t have to be ready.

What’s worth doing, even if you’re not sure, is having a confidential conversation with an attorney who handles these cases. That call costs nothing. It is confidential, and doesn’t commit you to anything. And it gives you a clear-eyed picture of what’s possible before the December 2027 deadline narrows the options.

Constant Legal Group represents adult survivors of institutional sexual abuse and human trafficking across California and nationally. We are here to hear your story.