(a)Any person who has been subjected to gender violence may bring a civil action for damages against any responsible party. The plaintiff may seek actual damages, compensatory damages, punitive damages, injunctive relief, any combination of those, or any other appropriate relief. A prevailing plaintiff may also be awarded attorney’s fees and costs.
(b)An action brought pursuant to this section shall be
commenced within three years of the act, or if the victim was a minor when the act occurred, within eight years after the date the plaintiff attains the age of majority or within three years after the date the plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered the psychological injury or illness occurring after the age of majority that was caused by the act, whichever date occurs later.
(c)For purposes of this section, “gender violence” is a form of sex discrimination and means either of the following:
(1)One or more acts that would constitute a criminal offense under state law that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another, committed at least in part based on the gender of the victim, whether or not those acts have resulted in criminal complaints, charges, prosecution, or conviction.
(2)A physical intrusion or physical invasion of a sexual nature under coercive conditions, whether or not those acts have resulted in criminal complaints, charges, prosecution, or conviction.
(d)For purposes of this section, “gender” has the meaning set forth in Section 51.
(e) Notwithstanding any other laws that may establish the liability of an employer for the acts of an employee, this section does not establish any civil liability of a person because of his or her status as an employer, unless the employer personally committed an act of gender violence.
Notes of Decisions
RN Solution, Inc. v. Catholic Healthcare West, 165 Cal. App. 4th 1511 (Cal. Ct. App. 2008).
· cites it 2× “7 gender-based violence claims asserted against both defendants); seventh (Civ. Code, § 52.4 gender violence against Robertson); eighth (assault against Robertson); ninth (battery against Robertson); 13th (false imprisonment against Robertson); 14th (intentional infliction of…”
Daza v. Los Angeles Cmty. Coll. Dist., 247 Cal. App. 4th 260 (Cal. Ct. App. 2016).
“9); gender violence (Civ. Code, § 52.4); false imprisonment; negligent sexual abuse; and sexual harassment (Civ.”
Lopez v. Regents of Univ., 5 F. Supp. 3d 1106 (N.D. Cal. 2013).
“Plaintiffs state law causes of action are for negligence per se, negligence, negligent supervision, premises liability, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, battery, assault, and gender violence in violation of Cal. Civ. Code…”
Kathryn Spletstoser v. John Hyten, 44 F.4th 938 (9th Cir. 2022).
“” Based on these allegations, Spletstoser asserted seven state law claims for relief against Hyten in the FAC: (1) sexual battery in violation of Cal.”
Ca v. William S. Hart Union High Sch. Dist., 189 Cal. App. 4th 1166 (Cal. Ct. App. 2010).
“cites in support of his claim for gender violence, also does not provide for a civil action against a public entity, and in subdivision (d) states: "[T]his section does not establish any civil liability of a person because of his or her status as an employer, unless the employer…”
Gail Harper v. Ryan Lugbauer, 709 F. App'x 849 (9th Cir. 2017).
· cites it 2× “The district court properly granted summary judgment on Harper’s gender violence claim under California Civil Code section 52.4 based on a conspiracy theory of liability because Harper failed to establish any of the elements of conspiracy.”
Doe v. Kachru (Cal. Ct. App. 2025).
· cites it 6× “” (Civ. Code, § 52.4, subds. (a), (c)(1), (d).”
Jones v. David CA2/4 (Cal. Ct. App. 2021).
· cites it 3× “(Civ. Code, § 52.4.) Plaintiffs did not seek or obtain leave of court or defendants’ stipulation before filing the FAC.”
C.O. v. Cnty. of Kern (E.D. Cal. 2022).
· cites it 3× “§ 1983 ; 13 (2) gender violence in violation of Cal. Civil Code § 52.4 ; (3) violation of her rights under Cal.”
H.M. v. Cnty. of Kern (E.D. Cal. 2022).
· cites it 3× “§ 1983 ; (2) gender violence 22 in violation of Cal. Civil Code § 52.4 ; (3) violation of her rights under Cal.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.