Can you sue for sexual abuse without your name becoming public? California says yes.
One fear stops more abuse survivors from coming forward than almost any other: the fear of being publicly identified. Court filings are public records. A lawsuit under your own name can surface in a Google search seen by employers, neighbors, and family. California law addresses this directly. A survivor can pursue a civil case for sexual abuse without putting their name in the public court file.
Filing as "Jane Doe" or "John Doe"
California courts can permit survivors of sexual assault and abuse to file suit under a pseudonym — Jane Doe, John Doe, or simply Doe. The case proceeds like any other lawsuit; the complaint, motions, and public docket simply carry the pseudonym instead of the survivor's legal name.
Anonymity is not automatic. Because the public has a First Amendment right of access to court proceedings, recent decisions — most notably Roe v. Smith (2025) and Department of Fair Employment & Housing v. Superior Court (2022) — require the trial court to find an "overriding interest" that outweighs public access, supported by actual evidence, before granting a pseudonym. Vague fears of embarrassment are not enough. But the courts have been equally clear about what does qualify: privacy in highly sensitive sexual matters and the risk of retaliatory harm are precisely the interests that can justify anonymity. A survivor's motion, properly supported by declarations detailing the harm public exposure would cause, stands on the strongest footing the law recognizes.
For certain protected persons — including participants in California's Safe at Home confidentiality program — Code of Civil Procedure section 367.3 goes further and gives a statutory right to proceed under a pseudonym and to redact identifying details from every filing in the case.
The defendant learns who you are — the public does not
Anonymity in court is anonymity from the public, not from the parties. Due process requires that the defendant know who is suing them. But that disclosure happens under a protective order: a court order prohibiting the defendant and their lawyers from revealing your identity outside the litigation. Violating a protective order carries real consequences, including sanctions.
Additional layers of protection
Pseudonymous filing is one tool among several. Depending on the case, we can also ask the court to seal exhibits containing sensitive records, such as medical and therapy records, redact identifying details — addresses, workplaces, family members' names — from filings, and enter protective orders limiting who may attend depositions and how discovery materials may be used.
What this means if you are considering a claim
The decision to come forward is hard enough without believing it requires a public announcement. It does not — but after Roe v. Smith, the anonymity motion must be done right. That means filing it at the outset, supporting it with sworn declarations rather than bare assertions, and tailoring the request narrowly. In my practice, protecting a client's identity is one of the first things we address, typically before the complaint is ever filed.
If you or someone you love is weighing a claim for sexual abuse and privacy is the obstacle, California law is on your side. I am happy to discuss your options in a confidential consultation.
What this post is not. This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Whether a court will grant anonymity depends on the facts of your case.
Yisrael Gelb · Gelb Law APC | Beverly Hills, CA · yisrael@gelblawapc.com · (323) 632-6864