Assault or battery at the workplace: what you need to know

It’s good when being at the workplace is a pleasure. However, even the work they love can be overshadowed by people who are not burdened with the knowledge of etiquette. Customers, co-workers, partners, supervisor are the main culprits when it comes to workplace harassment that is not worth to tolerate.

Assault or battery occurs while working in a place where people are directly involved in work activities, in cases of conflict situations that are resolved by a fight and sexual harassment occurs at work. The participants, in this case, are the management team and their employees. It is worth noting that for the assault or battery, the injured person submits two separate statements of claim to the appropriate authority. Such claims about liability for misconduct can be submitted to the employer for review.

Assault

The legal definition of assault differs from the usual, home interpretation of it. So, if we focus on the legal definition of assault, then it means that the attack is considered to be committed at the moment when the intention of the person indicates the desired harm and the person being attacked assumes that they intend to harm him, but, in reality, physical contact doesn’t occur. Let us explain this with an example: job-related assaultive conduct is carried out if one employee swings in your direction and you, based on this, think that a blow will occur in your direction now.

Battery

The battery differs in that, in reality, harm must be done by physical force towards the victim. It can be characterized as a special, deliberate use of physical force harming you without your approval of such action.

Can you avoid writing a statement about assault or battery?

 There are cases where actions such as assault or battery may be justified and there will be no employer liability for it, for example.

• The first incident is self-defense, because everyone has the right to the necessary defense, regardless of the possibility of avoiding socially dangerous encroachment or turning to other persons or authorities for help. The necessary defense is defined as a set of actions aimed at protecting one’s own or someone else’s legal rights and interests, as well as the interests of society and the state, from crime (offense). With the necessary defense, damage to the attacker is allowed, which is sufficient in a given situation to immediately prevent or stop the encroachment. At the same time, the limits of necessary defense must not be exceeded.
• The next case is the voluntary consent of the victim. Maybe the employee consented to be beaten. However, this moment has its nuances.

What is the procedure for filing a claim for assault or battery?

We’ll have to declare that health is damage. The statement of claim against the aggressor is submitted directly to the appropriate court authority. However, keep in mind that if your accident has similarities to the beating or assault that we discussed earlier in an article by our Schlacter Law team, you only need to file a claim in court if such intentional conduct caused your assault injury. Damage, in turn, can be described as losses, unforeseen expenses, lost benefits associated with the inability to carry out their work duties due to assault/beating.

The obligation to determine the amount of compensation that must be paid to the injured party (the plaintiff), as a rule, lies with the court in which you filed the claim. For insignificant cases, your best bet is to go to court, which deals with small, insignificant claims.

If you have a more significant and significant case and the total cost of the statement of claim is more than ,500, then you can apply for legal resolution of the dispute to the High Court. We recommend that you use the services of a qualified intentional torts lawyer for this, who will act as a defender of your rights that have been unlawfully affected.

Why Hire an intentional torts attorney?

The services of an intentional acts lawyer in criminal cases include the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of the victim. The torts lawyer for the victim collects all the documents and submits a petition to prove the fact of damage to the physical and mental health of the client. Choosing a human rights defender to participate in the case, the client should be guided by his legal specialization, practical experience, and life position.