Delaware2025Passed Legislature
SA2TOHB75
Amendment to House Bill 75 on Sexual Abuse Laws
Last scannedAug 24, 2026, 10:01 AM
In one sentence
This amendment defines terms and sets rules for lawsuits against employers or organizations when a minor is sexually abused, including limits on money awards and special evidence requirements if the abuser cannot defend themselves.
What it does
- Defines 'person' to include businesses, trusts, government groups like schools, volunteers, and independent contractors, but not individuals who are not sole proprietors.
- Allows victims of sexual abuse as minors to sue a person or organization that employed the abuser or had control over them if they owed a duty of care to the victim.
- Removes legal protection called sovereign immunity for the state, counties, school districts, and charter schools in these specific cases.
- Sets a maximum limit of $500,000 on money awards from the abuser or the liable person, excluding health care expenses like medical and counseling costs.
- Requires special proof if the alleged abuser is dead or unable to participate in their own defense.
Who it affects
- Victims who were minors when they experienced sexual abuse by an adult.
- Employers, organizations, and government entities that employed or controlled the alleged abuser.
- School districts, charter schools, hospitals, charitable organizations, and other legal entities in Delaware.
Limits and unknowns
- The amendment was stricken in the Senate on July 1, 2026, so it may not become law.
- No effective date is listed because the bill has not been finalized by all steps of government action.
Plain language
Terms to know
- Sovereign immunity
- A rule that usually stops people from suing the government; this law removes that protection for sexual abuse cases involving minors.
- Joint tortfeasors
- People who are legally responsible together for harm; this law says the abuser and their employer or controller are not treated as a single group in these lawsuits.
- Gross negligence
- A very serious failure to take care, required by victims if the abuse happened on or before July 9, 2007.
Official record
Sources
Official summary
This Amendment does all of the following: (1) Provides definitions of terms used throughout this Act, including a definition of “person” for use when describing the employer of the victim’s alleged abuser.