It has been a long and sobering almost five years for Elsie Dominguez. The civilian mariner filed a legal complaint in November 2023 alleging that she was raped roughly two years earlier by the captain of the U.S. naval ship on which she worked, while she was asleep in her bed in her personal quarters. Enduring a traumatic situation on her own terms was coupled with ultimately failed efforts for a legal reprieve. Months after filing her sexual assault lawsuit, she and her legal counsel were gobsmacked to find out that the Department of Labor (DOL) determined post-investigation that the rape occurred within her job duties and had to be pursued as a worker’s comp claim rather than be addressed in a court of law. Today, Dominguez and her attorneys have effectively exhausted all legal avenues. It leaves the service member without the feeling of justice, even as she works daily to defend the nation and its citizens. "I realized that the law is not in my favor to protect me as a human being," Dominguez told Military.com. "I was angry, but I can't say that I was shocked. Because I am a federal employee, and I see from the inside the flaws that are in the system." She is currently assigned to USS Lewis B. Puller, ESB-3 as 1st Assistant Engineer. Dominguez is also a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve. At the time of the events outlined in her 2023 lawsuit, Dominguez was assigned to the USNS Carson City, T-EPF 7 as 1st Assistant Engineer. "I'm serving the country from both capacities, from my civilian work and my work as a Reservist," she added. "There's no one that you can paint that's more American than me. If my own country won't protect me, who will?"