Workers' Compensation for Workplace Violence

Workers' Compensation for Workplace Violence

Every time you view, hear, or read the news, it’s likely that you see yet another story about someone carrying out a violent act. Sadly, this violence seems to occur almost anywhere, even at people’s jobs.

If someone else’s intentional actions injured you while you were on the job, you may qualify for workers’ compensation for workplace violence. Keep reading to learn what your options may be.

Statistics Regarding Violent Acts on the Job

In 2022, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) discussed the epidemic that has become workplace violence in its OSHA Fact Sheet. That report suggested that at least 2 million Americans are subjected to violent acts on the job each year in our country.

National Safety Council statistics show that assaults in U.S. workplaces caused 57,610 worker injuries between 2021 and 2022. In 2022 alone, there were 525 employee deaths.

Other data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) highlighted how, in 2020, intentional acts carried out by someone else in the workplace led to 37,060 nonfatal injuries and 392 homicides.

Who Is Most at Risk for Workplace Attacks?

The BLS resource above highlighted how workplace violence was most pronounced in certain fields of employment. Nonfatal injuries were most frequent in the following five employment sectors:

  • The service industry
  • Health care and practical roles
  • Educational instruction and library positions
  • The transportation and material moving industry
  • Management, business, and financial roles

The BLS contends that the top five industries with the most homicides were:

  • Sales and related roles
  • Transportation and material moving
  • Management
  • Construction and extraction
  • Production

No one is immune to workplace violence. However, the OSHA Fact Sheet detailed certain factors that make some workers more prone to being violently attacked than others. Some of those factors include:

  • Anyone who works alone, early in the morning, late at night, and in high-crime areas
  • Those responsible for delivering services, goods, or passengers
  • Individuals responsible for the exchange of money with members of the public

Can You File a Workers’ Comp Claim for Violence on the Job?

If you were the victim of a violent on-the-job attack, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation for workplace violence.

States, in general, require employers to provide all their employees with a safe workplace. Having workers’ compensation coverage, which covers any work-related incident (including violence), is a way to ensure that. That being said, the responsibility falls on you to show proof of the following if you were attacked while working:

The Violent Act Was Indeed Work Related

Your injuries may stem from a professional (as opposed to a personal) dispute with a colleague or a third party (vendor, customer, criminal, etc.) that decided to inflict violence, such as an armed robbery. It’s your responsibility to show that any conflict and subsequent harm you suffered stemmed from a job-related difference of opinion or that you were going about your everyday responsibilities at work when you were hurt.

Showing You Weren’t the Aggressor

While you’ll often hear that workers’ comp is a no-fault insurance, that’s not exactly the case in the sense that you’re generally not eligible for benefits under this program if you intentionally acted recklessly or illegally and that contributed to you getting hurt.

So, using the example of workplace violence, even if you were the person who “threw the first punch,” that doesn’t automatically make you the aggressor. Instead, it may be the person who initiated a verbal altercation, causing you to feel threatened and like you needed to defend yourself.

Challenges to Requesting Workers’ Comp for Violent Acts

Much like any other case, it’s not uncommon for insurers to deny workers’ compensation claims for workplace violence. This is often why injured workers seek the assistance of legal counsel to aid them in navigating the claims process very early on.

Gathering evidence to substantiate that the violent act that harmed you was work-related and that you didn’t instigate it needs to happen early on, which can be challenging depending on how seriously you’re hurt.

And, should there be a denial of your workers’ comp claim, a legal representative can help you navigate what to do next. This may include appealing the decision made by a workers’ compensation insurer or taking some other alternative legal action.

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This website was created and is maintained by the legal team at Thomas Law Offices. Our attorneys are experienced in a wide variety of personal injury and work injury cases and represent clients on a nationwide level. Call us or fill out the form to the right to tell us about your potential case. We will get back to you as quickly as possible.