BREAKING: OMG. A judge just ruled that a woman getting raped on a Navy ship was PART OF HER JOB’S DUTIES and that she should file a WORKER’S COMP COMPLAINT about it! This is beyond belief… Elsie Dominguez has been fighting for justice for five years over a heinous sexual assault by the captain of the USNS Carson City, who used his key card to enter her locked room and raped her in her bed. She went through all the proper procedures for reporting the assault, and then sued the Navy for failure to care for and protect her after little was done. But on August 11th, a judge dismissed her case and told her to file a workers’ comp claim. When she sued the federal government, a court ordered the Labor Department to determine whether this rape should be handled as a Federal Employees’ Compensation Act claim since it occurred while she was working within a temporary travel status as a civilian contractor. It did. Now a worker’s comp claim is her only legal path forward, and her justice has been denied. "It's a really frustrating legal outcome," said her lawyer. "If anyone should think getting raped is part of your performance of your job duties, [it] is offensive. I have immense respect for Elsie that she raised her hand and she fought this fight with us, even though it was kind of a losing battle from the start.” Coast Guard prosecutors in February 2025 did issue a complaint of sexual misconduct against the ship’s captain, Yamil Sanchez Padilla, who simply voluntarily surrendered his merchant mariner credentials and the criminal case was withdrawn. This is just a glimpse into how hard it is to find justice for sexual assault victims in the military – and you can bet that under Pete Hegseth’s command, it has gotten a LOT worse.