(412) 212-6465

Greensburg Workplace Sexual Assault Lawyer

If something happened to you at work in Greensburg, Hempfield, Latrobe, or elsewhere in Westmoreland County, there’s no set timeline for figuring out your next step.

Warehouse and distribution shifts, and jobs in nursing homes and long term care facilities, are common here, and both can leave you isolated with little oversight nearby, especially at night.

The team at Kennedy Law is ready to talk whenever you are. Regardless of what happened, and however long ago, the decision about what to do is still yours to make.

Call today: (412) 212-6465

Workplace Sexual Assault in Greensburg and Westmoreland County

Some jobs create more opportunity for assault to happen and go unaddressed.

Warehouse floors near New Stanton run night shifts in buildings large enough to have isolated corners that are far from a supervisor or security. In nursing homes and long term care facilities, close physical contact with residents and short staffing can create a similar risk. This can range from a resident to a coworker, and anyone that an employee may come in contact with in between.

And in the retail and restaurant strip along Route 30, closing shifts and stockrooms can leave workers, often young and part-time, alone with a coworker or manager after hours. Whether it happened on a loading dock, in a nursing home, or behind a register on Route 30, that doesn’t decide whether reporting it is worth your time.

How Workplace Sexual Assault Claims Differ From Harassment Claims

An assault at work isn’t handled the same way as a harassment complaint, and it helps to understand a few of those differences early on.

Whether or not the person who assaulted you is ever criminally charged, or convicted, has no bearing on whether you can bring a civil case against your employer. Those are two separate systems, running on two separate timelines.

Depending on the facts, you may have a claim against both the individual who assaulted you and your employer, particularly if your employer had reason to know about a risk, prior complaints, a documented pattern, a known issue, and didn’t choose to step in. There isn’t one single Pennsylvania law written specifically for “workplace sexual assault.” These claims are usually built from a mix of anti-discrimination law and employer-negligence principles, sometimes alongside claims against the individual. The team at Kennedy Law can tell you which of those fit your situation.

Reporting Options: A Civil Claim, a Criminal Report, or Both

Greensburg Workplace Sexual Assault Lawyer

Nobody’s requiring you to pick a single path right now, or ever, if that’s not where you’re at.

A civil claim against your employer runs on its own track, separate from a criminal report to police, regardless of whether the person who assaulted you was a supervisor, a coworker on your shift, or someone else entirely.

Some people go both routes. Some stick to one. Some need time before committing to either. And skipping the police doesn’t shut the door on a civil claim later.

Where Westmoreland County Cases Are Filed

Wherever the incident took place, a civil claim connected to what happened is usually filed in the same place, the Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas, located in Greensburg, not Pittsburgh. This county courthouse sits at 2 North Main Street, Greensburg, PA 15601.

If there is a discrimination claim that is tied to the incident, this will go through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Pittsburgh Area Office, which is located at the William S. Moorhead Federal Building, which sits at 1000 Liberty Avenue, Suite 1112, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission’s Pittsburgh Regional Office, which is located at 301 Fifth Avenue, Suite 390, Piatt Place, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.

On a separate path, if a police report is filed, it will be handled by the local police department and the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s office, which holds an office at the same Main Street location above. You don’t have to stress about mapping any of this out alone, Kennedy Law is here to walk through it with you.

Support Resources Right Now

In Westmoreland County:

Talking to someone doesn’t have to mean hiring a lawyer, at least not yet. Both of the resources above are free and confidential, and they’re there whether or not a legal claim ever happens.

Retaliation After Reporting

Your employer can’t legally punish you for reporting an assault, whether that report went to HR, the police, or a lawyer.

Retaliation can look like a sudden schedule change, a write-up that appears out of nowhere, or being pushed off a shift after you come forward.

Keeping your job shouldn’t require staying silent.

What to Do Now

There’s no single right way to respond to an incident like this, but a few things can help protect your options later:

  1. Medical care comes first if you need it, whether or not you’ve decided about reporting yet. A hospital visit can also connect you with a victim advocate resource.
  2. Reach out to a support resource, like Blackburn Center or the National Sexual Assault Hotline, if you want to talk before deciding anything else.
  3. Write things down while you can: dates, your shift, where it happened, and anyone who might have seen or heard something.
  4. Take your time deciding on reporting options. A police report and a civil claim are two separate things, and neither requires the other.
  5. If your employer asks you to sign anything, a warning, a severance agreement, hold off until you’ve spoken with a lawyer.
  6. Timing matters more than people expect. Several deadlines can apply, and some come up faster than you’d think.

Why Westmoreland County Survivors Choose Kennedy Law

When you reach out to Kennedy Law, you’ll deal directly with the members of our team, not a call center or a rotating case manager. Attorney Nick Kennedy practices out of Pittsburgh, where the agencies handling these cases are also based, and he belongs to the Western Pennsylvania Employment Lawyers Association (WPELA), which serves lawyers throughout Western Pennsylvania who advocate for employees rights.

Kennedy Law represents employees across Western Pennsylvania, including Allegheny, Westmoreland, Washington, Butler, Beaver, and Erie counties, and takes assault cases seriously, without rushing you to make decisions.

Frequently Asked Questions

No, the two are independent. A civil claim against your employer can move forward with or without a police report or criminal charges.

Possibly, especially if your employer knew about prior incidents or complaints involving that coworker and didn’t act, or if unsafe conditions, like inadequate staffing or security, contributed to what happened.

Not necessarily. Deadlines differ by claim type, and some doors may still be open even after time has passed. It’s worth finding out rather than assuming.

Yes, calling doesn’t obligate you to anything. Many people reach out just to understand their options first.

Reach Out at Your Own Pace

Whatever happened at work in Greensburg, Hempfield, Latrobe, or elsewhere in Westmoreland County, you’re not required to have it figured out before you pick up the phone.

Our team is here when you’re ready, whenever that may be.

Call (412) 212-6465 for a free, confidential consultation.