What should I Do After Being Assaulted at Work?
Full Question:
I work in North Carolina but reside in South Carolina. I was assaulted at work by my manager and have reported it to Human Resources of the company yet nothing has been done to rectify the situation. What are my options at this point?
06/24/2009 |
Category: Criminal ยป Assault |
State: South Carolina |
#17162
Answer:
If you are not in a union. I suggest consulting your employee manual or handbook for any applicable policies and procedures for handling grievances. If you are in a union, I suggest contacting your union representative. If you have exhausted the administrative remedies at work and the employer is unwilling to take any action, it is possible to bring a civil or criminal action in court for assault. In the case of criminal charges, it is the decision of the prosecutor whether or not to press charges after a report is filed.
The following SC statute applies to civil assault charges:
15-3-530. Three years.
Within three years:
(1) an action upon a contract, obligation, or liability, express or
implied, excepting those provided for in Section 15-3-520;
(2) an action upon a liability created by statute other than a penalty
or forfeiture;
(3) an action for trespass upon or damage to real property;
(4) an action for taking, detaining, or injuring any goods or chattels
including an action for the specific recovery of personal property;
(5) an action for assault, battery, or any injury to the person or
rights of another, not arising on contract and not enumerated by law,
and those provided for in Section 15-3-545;
(6) an action under Sections 15-51-10 to 15-51-60 for death by wrongful
act, the period to begin to run upon the death of the person on account
of whose death the action is brought;
(7) any action for relief on the ground of fraud in cases which prior
to the adoption of the Code of Civil Procedure in 1870 were solely
cognizable by the court of chancery, the cause of action in the case
not considered to have accrued until the discovery by the aggrieved
party of the facts constituting the fraud;
(8) an action on any policy of insurance, either fire or life, whereby
any person or property, resident or situate in this State, may be or
may have been insured, or for or on account of any loss arising under
the policy, any clause, condition, or limitation contained in the
policy to the contrary notwithstanding; and
(9) an action against directors or stockholders of a monied corporation
or a banking association to recover a penalty or forfeiture imposed or
to enforce a liability created by law, the cause of action in the case
not considered to have accrued until the discovery by the aggrieved
party of the facts upon which the penalty or forfeiture attached or the
liability was created, unless otherwise provided in the law under which
the corporation is organized.
Please see the following SC criminal statutes to determine applicability:
§ 16-3-620. Assault and battery with intent to kill.
The crime of assault and battery with intent to kill shall be a
felony in this State and any person convicted of such crime shall be
punished by imprisonment not to exceed twenty years.
§ 16-3-610. Assault with concealed weapon.
If any person be convicted of assault, assault and battery, assault or
assault and battery with intent to kill or manslaughter and it shall
appear upon the trial that the assault, assault and battery, assault or
assault and battery with intent to kill or manslaughter shall have been
committed with a deadly weapon of the character specified in § 16-23-460
carried concealed upon the person of the defendant so convicted the
presiding judge shall, in addition to the punishment provided by law for
such assault, assault and battery, assault or assault and battery with
intent to kill or manslaughter, inflict further punishment upon the
person so convicted by confinement in the Penitentiary for not less than
three months nor more than twelve months, with or without hard labor, or
a fine of not less than two hundred dollars or both fine and
imprisonment, at the discretion of the judge.
§ 16-17-560. Assault or intimidation on account of political opinions or
exercise of civil rights.
It is unlawful for a person to assault or intimidate a citizen,
discharge a citizen from employment or occupation, or eject a citizen
from a rented house, land, or other property because of political
opinions or the exercise of political rights and privileges guaranteed
to every citizen by the Constitution and laws of the United States or
by the Constitution and laws of this State.
A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one
thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
