Lawsuit alleging rape aboard Navy vessel was dismissed and classified as worker’s comp issue, documents show

Claims circulated in August 2026 that a civilian engineer named Elsie Dominguez was working aboard a U.S. Navy vessel in 2021 and allegedly raped on duty, for which she later sued the United States seeking unspecified monetary damages. 

According to the claim, a judge dismissed the case, deeming it an issue related to worker’s compensation, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Labor. 

People on social media platforms spread the report online, claiming that Dominguez’s lawsuit was dropped because the rape was deemed to have happened while in performance of her work duties and was reclassified a worker’s compensation issue. 

Reports about the claims appeared on websites that cover news about the U.S. military as well as in the International Business Times. 

It was true that a judge dismissed Dominguez’s case because he determined it fell under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act and should therefore be handled by the U.S. Department of Labor, according to court documents. 

The decision cited a prior Supreme Court ruling that determined “unequivocally that FECA is the exclusive remedy for civilian seamen on public vessels.” 

On May 12, 2026, a joint letter from the plaintiff’s and defendant’s attorneys said that “the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs issued an acceptance” of Dominguez’s claim on March 11, meaning the office had decided to classify the rape as a “work-related injury.”

Snopes reached out to the Department of Labor to ask for documentation of this decision and was instructed to make a Freedom of Information Act request. 

According to the case docket, Judge Edward S. Kiel dismissed the case on Aug. 11, 2026. 

Another joint letter from the attorneys, dated one day before the dismissal and embedded below, said “Ms. Dominguez firmly disagrees” with the decision that the assault should be classified as a work-related injury and that she believed it “does a significant disservice to service members like her” but opted not to appeal. As a result, the letter said, “this matter may be dismissed.” 

Sexual assault can be grounds for a worker’s compensation claim in particular circumstances, according to some personal injury lawyers. 

For instance, one New York-based firm said it’s possible to sue for worker’s compensation when “sexual assault by a supervisor or co-worker when the employer knew about the risk (e.g., through a previous incident) but failed to protect you.” 

History of the case

Dominguez graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and “excelled professionally and rose through the civilian ranks within Military Sealift Command from 3rd Assistant Engineer to 1st Assistant Engineer, an accomplishment achieved by very few female mariners,” according to court documents. 

The documents said Dominguez met her alleged attacker, the future captain of the USNS Carson City, upon her first assignment out of school in 2014, when he was ranked second mate. 

She was assigned to the USNS Carson City in October 2021. 

The alleged perpetrator purportedly initiated a sexual relationship with Dominguez after her transfer to his ship. Dominguez said in court documents that she felt like she could not refuse because he was her superior. 

She called the experience “demeaning and upsetting” and “told the Captain that she did not enjoy the encounter and did not wish to have any kind of romantic or sexual interactions with him moving forward.” 

The documents described Dominguez as fending off further advances until the situation escalated in December 2021, ultimately resulting in Dominguez’s complaint, which she filed on Nov. 11, 2023. 

The plaintiff’s accounting of events stated she was ashore at a bar with colleagues, became intoxicated — possibly drugged — and later woke up in her quarters as she was allegedly being raped by the captain.

Stars and Stripes reported that the captain was removed from the ship and criminally investigated; records show that he surrendered his credentials and the case was withdrawn in March 2025.

The civil complaint, embedded below, said Dominguez sought “justice for the sexual assault that she endured aboard the USNS Carson City” on Dec. 21, 2021, as well as “for the failure of the United States to care for her or protect her when she reported the attack the next morning using the proper reporting procedures.”

The lawsuit sought unspecified monetary damages for Dominguez’s experience:

As a direct and proximate result of the negligence of the United States, Ms. Dominguez suffered physical and emotional injury, pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, loss of future wages and earning capacity, damage to her professional prospects and reputation, and other harms and losses to be proven at trial. These losses and injuries are either permanent or continuing, and Ms. Dominguez will suffer these losses and injuries in the future.

The court documents Snopes reviewed on the national legal index PACER included a letter dated Feb. 8, 2024, from Adam Calendrillo, chief of procedures of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, who determined “a substantial likelihood of FECA coverage for Ms. Dominguez’s alleged injuries.” 

Calendrillo wrote, “Even though the alleged assault occurred sometime in the early morning hours while she was asleep, Ms. Dominguez was under the protection of the FECA 24 hours a day with respect to any injury incidental to her duties.”

On June 4, 2024, the defendant’s motion to stay was granted in part “pending plaintiff’s filing of a Federal Employees Compensation Act claim with the Department of Labor and related resolution.”

We’ve reached out to Dominguez’s attorneys for further comment on the ruling in the civil case and to ask about future plans regarding the complaint. We will update this story if we hear back.