If a Previous Employe5 Had Assult and Battery and They Get a Judicial Review

Assaulted by a co-worker...when can I sue the boss?

Employers have a duty of care to provide a safe work environment for their employees. If they violate this duty of care, they may be liable for civil amercement when an employee isassaulted or sexually assaulted by a co-worker.

A lawsuit confronting the employer for a workplace assail is but ane option. The victim of a workplace attack can also do any or all of the following:

Complain to their company'southward human being resources section or a supervisor;
File a police force written report;
Apply for worker's compensation; and/or
Bring a ceremonious lawsuit for compensatory damages confronting the co-worker.

What damages can I recover if I sue for a co-worker's set on?

Victims who bring a lawsuit against an abusive co-worker or an employer may be able to recover amercement for:

Medical bills,
Psychological counseling,
Lost wages,
Emotional distress, and
Pain and suffering.

The victim might also be able to get punitive damages from the employer. Punitive damages serve to punish reckless wrongdoers and deter others who may do the same or like things.

To help you better understand what to do if y'all are assaulted by a fellow employee, our California personal injury lawyers hash out, below:

Y'all may too wish to read our articles on "Suing for Workplace Harassment in California" and "Lawsuits by Offense Victims in California."

close-up on woman's face covered in bruises

1. The definition of "assail" and "battery" in California

Penal Code 240, California's "attack" constabulary, defines "attack" equally a threat or try to commit a fierce injury confronting someone else.

When unlawful force or violence is really used, the crime is known as "bombardment," California Penal Lawmaking 242.

Other wrongful acts that fall under the general heading of "assail and battery" include (without limitation):

Assail with a deadly weapon, Penal Lawmaking 245(a)(1),
Sexual battery (groping), Penal Code 243.4,
Indecent exposure, Penal Lawmaking 314, and
Rape, Penal Code 261 PC.

Any of these or similar California "assault and battery" crimes tin can course the basis of a civil lawsuit for damages.

ii. What rights do I have if I am assaulted at piece of work?

The law affords one a number of options for reporting a workplace assail. Fortunately, victims don't take to cull one over the other. They can — and usually should — do more than one.

Victims of a co-worker set on tin:

Study the crime to the law,
File a complaint with the employer, and/or
File a worker's compensation claim or a lawsuit confronting the co-worker and/or employer.

The difference between a criminal complaint and a civil lawsuit for damages

Lawsuits for workplace assault serve a different function than a criminal prosecution or an 60 minutes complaint.

The criminal justice system is focused on the perpetrator. Information technology is near determining guilt and advisable criminal penalization. The D.A. brings the action and decides whether to pursue charges and whether to let the perpetrator cut a bargain.

A civil lawsuit, on the other hand, is focused on the victim. Information technology is about making the victim as whole equally possible. The victim is a party. This ways that the victim gets to determine how far to take a lawsuit and whether to settle out of court.

iii. Do I have to file a police report in order to sue for an assault at work?

No. A civil lawsuit does non crave a police report or a criminal prosecution. And if the prosecutor does bring criminal charges, a conviction is non required for the victim to sue. A victim can bring a civil lawsuit even if a jury finds the defendant "not guilty" at trial.

However, information technology is usually in the victim's interest to report a workplace attack to the constabulary.

The 3 key advantages of filing a police report

There are three key advantages to filing a police force report before filing a civil lawsuit:

Going to the constabulary tells the victim's employer that the charges should exist taken seriously,
Reporting the crime tin can prevent the accused's lawyer from using the lack of a police force report to question the victim's credibility, and
If the defendant is bedevilled in a criminal trial, it can extend the California statute of limitations — the catamenia during which a law-breaking victim can file a civil lawsuit for damages.

4. Practice I need to file a complaint with my employer?

No. Legally, a victim does not accept to report an attack to his or her employer in club to be able to sue for damages. Just information technology is unremarkably a skilful thought.

Most employers' human resource departments take charges of assault seriously. And failure to lodge a complaint with an employer may cast doubts on the accuser'southward credibility.

But not all companies are big enough to have human being resource departments. It should as well be noted that human resources departments work for the employer, non the employee. The goal of HR is normally to resolve disputes quickly and quietly.

Some employers are more committed than others to a full investigation of employee abuse complaints. Some have even begun using independent third-political party investigators in an effort to make the process more than fair and transparent.

5. Should I file a complaint with my employer?

Information technology is usually worthwhile for someone assaulted past a co-worker to file a complaint with the employer. Filing a complaint allows a victim to:

Be the first to provide his or her version of events to the employer;
Have advantage of any benefits — such as free counseling — offered by the employer;
Forbid future accusations that the victim was making things up; and
Encourage witnesses to cooperate in getting to the bottom of what happened.

Filing a complaint also gives the employer the opportunity to take steps to go along the victim and others safe at work.

young woman filing a police report with a young male officer

six. Tin I sue my co-worker for assaulting me?

Yes. California permits victims of an assault to sue the person who assaulted them.

In some cases, the person who committed the attack may be the only one liable. But nearly employees exercise not have the same avails equally an employer. And employees are less likely to have insurance to cover such acts.

If in that location is a chance the employer is liable, it is usually worthwhile to make a claim against the employer too as the employee who committed the attack.

7. When can I sue my employer if I am assaulted by a fellow worker?

There are 2 situations in which an employer can exist held liable for a coworker set on:

The employer knew or should have known that the employee was a risk to others; or
The employer is legally liable because the employee was simply doing his or her job.

Permit's take a closer expect at each of these situations.

7.1. The employer was negligent in hiring, retaining or supervising the employee

California police makes employers liable if they are negligent in hiring, retaining or supervising a potentially dangerous employee.

To hold an employer liable under this theory, a plaintiff must show that:

The employee who committed the assault was unfit or incompetent to exercise the work for which he or she was hired;
The employer knew (or should have known) that the employee posed a danger of harm to others; and
Considering of the employee'due south unfitness or incompetence, the plaintiff was harmed.^ane

Examples of negligent hiring, retentiveness and supervision:

Negligent hiring: A ride-sharing company fails to conduct a criminal background check of a driver as required past law.² A background bank check would take shown that the driver has a recent conviction for domestic violence.

Negligent retentiveness: A restaurant ignores complaints that its star chef has been slapping members of the kitchen staff.

Negligent supervision: A security company ignores its own rule that a guard with less than one year of experience should never be alone on a hazardous job site.

seven.2. The employer is indirectly liable for the acts of its employees (respondeat superior)

In almost cases, employers are not responsible for the intentional wrongful acts of their employees.

For case, if a department store clerk assaults a customer, the store would not be liable unless it had reason to know the clerk was unsafe. This is considering assaulting people is not something an employer expects its clerks to do.

Nonetheless, in some cases, an employer does wait its employees to act with strength or the threat of strength. In such cases, the employer may be "vicariously" (indirectly) liable for its employee'south actions. This is known as respondeat superior law.

"Respondeat superior" is a Latin phrase significant "allow the master answer." It means that an employer should answer for the actions of its employees when the employee was acting in furtherance of the employer's business.

When does "respondeat superior" utilise to a co-worker attack?

Respondeat superior law applies when:

An employee is acting inside the ordinary scope of his or her employment,
The employee'due south deportment were in furtherance of the employer's legitimate business objective, and
As the result of the employee'due south actions, someone was injured.

In most cases, respondeat superior will not apply when an employee assaults a co-worker. This is considering assaulting co-workers is not within the ordinary scope of almost people'south jobs.

But in some cases, physical strength is a part of an employee's job. Examples of jobs in which force or the threat of forcefulness is appropriate include (without limitation):

Security guards,
Nightclub bouncers,
Sports coaches, and
Professional athletes.

Even when forcefulness is within the scope of an employee'due south job, nonetheless, information technology is not ever an excuse for assault. If the employee uses likewise much force, an employer may exist liable nether respondeat superior police.

Example: Carl works as a bartender for a California nightclub. One of the other bartenders, Dee, gets drunkard one nighttime and becomes physically abusive toward Carl. When Carl pushes Dee in the breast to defend himself, one of the nightclub'due south security guards reacts by punching Carl.

Using force to protect patrons and workers is within the ordinary telescopic of a security baby-sit'due south duties. Doing so is in the involvement of the employer. Therefore, the employer may be liable under the doctrine of respondeat superior if the security guard's deportment constituted an assault.

one football player tackling another

8. What can I do if my employer retaliates?

Workers in California are protected confronting retaliation for complaining about workplace attack.

This protection is ready along in California's "Whistleblower Protection Act" (Sections 1102.5 to 1105 of the California Labor Code). The Whistleblower Protection Human activity makes it illegal for a visitor to retaliate against an employee for disclosing an set on to:

A regime agency,
Law enforcement, or
The person or section at a visitor who has the dominance to investigate, discover, or correct legal violations.³

Remedies for violation of California's Whistleblower Protection Human activity

Companies retaliating against an employee in violation of the Whistleblower Protection Deed can:

Be fined a civil penalty of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per incident, and/or
Be tried for a misdemeanor and sentenced to an additional fine and/ or upward to a year in county jail.^iv

Unfortunately, the Whistleblower Protection Act is no guarantee that a company volition not retaliate. It does, still, provide a remedy in the result that it happens.

For more information on filing a complaint most retaliation, please visit the California Department of Industrial Relations, How to file a retaliation/bigotry complaint.

9. What if I am in the United States unlawfully?

California government officials generally practice not question someone'due south clearing status or report it to other government agencies while investigating an assault claim. The Land of California is more interested in rooting out dangerous employees than in punishing people who are here without documentation.

Undocumented aliens who feel they have been retaliated confronting for reporting a workplace set on should contact:

An experienced California clearing chaser,
The California Labor Committee, and/or
The California Department of Industrial Relations.

10. Tin can my co-worker sue me for defamation if I charge him or her of assault?

Unfortunately, yeah. Some perpetrators will bring a suit for defamation in the hope of silencing their victims.

Victims should know that truth is an absolute defense force to charges of defamation in California. Additionally, depending on the state of affairs, wrongfully trying to silence a victim with a lawsuit may constitute an corruption of procedure.

Nonetheless, the costs of making a wrongful defamation claim go away tin be expensive.

For this reason, we recommend that employees discuss their situation with an experienced California injury lawyer every bit soon every bit possible after an assail has occurred.

11. Tin can I go Worker's Bounty if I have been assaulted past a co-worker?

Yep. Nether worker's compensation laws, a workplace set on is considered a work-related injury

The advantage of worker'due south bounty is that it will cover almost damages right away. Civil lawsuits can sometimes accept years to work their fashion through the system.

However, recovery for lost wages is lower — usually about 2/three of the employee's pay. Furthermore, worker's comp does non allow victims recover for hurting and suffering damages (other than to receive therapy).

It should besides exist noted that workers' compensation is unremarkably an exclusive remedy. This means that if a claim is covered by worker's comp, the victim will not also exist able to sue the employer.

How tin can an assaulted worker initiate a worker'southward comp claim?

To start a worker's compensation claim, an employee needs to file a "first study of injury" with the employer. The employer will provide the class when the employee reports the injury. The form will inquire for information almost the incident, including the date, time, and details of what happened.

For more than information, you may wish to read the California Department of Industrial Relations, "How to file a claim."

Assaulted by a co-worker in California? Phone call united states of america for help…

If you or someone you know was assaulted at piece of work, nosotros invite you to contact us for a free consultation.

Call us or fill up out the form on this page to speak with an experienced injury lawyer nigh your example.

Nosotros have offices throughout California to serve your needs, including in Los Angeles, Orangish, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and San Diego counties.

Legal references:

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Source: https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/personal-injury/victim-lawsuit/assault-by-coworker/