Are Injuries Caused by Workplace Violence Covered by Workers’ Comp?
You should receive benefits for injuries resulting from violence at work if you’re doing your job and acting within the scope of your duties. This covers harm caused by a violent co-worker or someone entering your workplace and committing a crime.
With more than three decades of experience, the attorneys at Castillo & Associates have the skills necessary to handle the complex legal and insurance challenges typically associated with California workers’ compensation claims. Contact our firm today for more information on your rights and legal options if you’re injured at work.
Workplace Shootings Kill and Injure Workers
California was the scene of two recent mass shootings in workplaces. Seven people were murdered at a mushroom farm in Half Moon Bay near San Francisco. Police say the cause was probably a workplace grievance by an employee, reports Reuters. Earlier in the month, eleven people were shot to death at a Los Angeles-area dance hall by someone who danced there frequently.
The Secret Service issued a report on violent attacks that occurred between 2016 and 2020. They found:
- They occurred at 88 places of business (including government facilities), nearly half of all the places where this violence took place (186)
- In a third of the incidents, the assailant sought particular people. Nearly a third of these cases involved a grievance related to a domestic situation, the workplace, or another personal issue
- Half of the attacks (88) involved a grievance, and in 18 cases it involved work
Workplace shootings go beyond well-publicized events. They can also involve criminals robbing a business or a domestic abuse situation where the abuser attacks a spouse or partner where they work. The FBI estimates 323 members of law enforcement were shot on the job and more than 60,000 assaulted in 2022, according to Law Enforcement Today.
Shoplifting Can Cause Violence and Injuries to Workers
Shoplifting is a well-publicized crime that has gotten so bad that it’s caused some retail stores to close. Shoplifting can involve a single person taking items and leaving a store, or many people overwhelm employees and take whatever they want.
If a violent shoplifter injures you while on the job, you should be awarded workers’ comp benefits. An exception can be if your employer instructs you not to approach, confront, or detain a shoplifter, but you do so anyway. These rules are meant to reduce worker injuries and avoid situations where customers may get hurt.
Healthcare Workers are Frequent Targets
Healthcare workers were 73% of all nonfatal workplace violence-related injuries and illnesses in 2018, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. More than 80% of healthcare workers reported in a National Nurses United survey they experienced workplace violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, reports the Harvard Gazette.
In a recent poll, nearly 70% of emergency department physicians believe that violence in their workplace is increasing, according to the American College of Emergency Physicians. More than half said patients had been physically harmed and nearly half of the doctors surveyed (47%) stated they’d been physically assaulted at work, reports MJH Health Services.
These attacks can be by co-workers, patients, or their friends or family members. They may grab sharp or blunt objects nearby and injure the victim. Patients and their family members demanding specific care or upset at long delays can become violent. Examples include:
- A Duke Raleigh Hospital patient was charged with assaulting and significantly injuring an employee in 2022, according to WRAL
- A Massachusetts woman was arrested in 2021 because she repeatedly stabbed a hospital employee in an unprovoked, random attack, reports WFXT
- Last year a South Carolina healthcare employee was killed in an altercation with a patient suffering from psychological and emotional illnesses, according to WM
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration reports that from 2002 to 2013, serious workplace violence (defined as requiring days off for the worker to recover) suffered by healthcare workers was four times more common, on average, than in private industry.
Speak to the Experienced Workers’ Compensation Law Firm of Castillo & Associates Today
You may become a victim of violence any time you’re at work. It may come as a complete surprise or the result of a known brewing conflict between employees that wasn’t resolved. Customers, clients, and patients may turn from seeking help to attacking you for something beyond your control.
When you hire the attorneys at Castillo & Associates, you are being represented and protected by highly experienced attorneys with over 45 years of combined trial experience and thousands of hours in being before judges advocating and fighting for your rights.
The attorneys at Castillo & Associates can handle the complex legal and insurance issues that come with workplace violence claims in California. With a legal team like Castillo & Associates, you can trust we’re on your side, you will be able to focus on making a full recovery. If you are an injured worker, contact our firm today to schedule a free consultation.
Attorney Domingo Castillo handles workers’ compensation, personal injury, family law & immigration throughout Southern California from our 5 offices: Indio, Pomona, Riverside, San Diego & Cathedral City. We help clients file injury claims, obtain residency & citizenship, and we assist families through divorce, child custody and all family law matters.
