Usually, violence in the workplace that involves aggression against a specific person does not bode well for anyone, especially if you were the person attacked. When such a thing happens, you will be asking yourself a set of questions, like will both you and the attacker be blamed? Should you file a suit against your attacker? Will you be held liable for your injuries? Mostly, these questions won’t be answered unless you try to file a personal injury claim. If you want further information on your rights in this situation, here is all that you need to know.

Personal Injury Claim

You will have the right to file a personal injury claim. In Shreveport, LA, there are multiple personal accidents covered by personal injury law, like car wrecks, commercial vehicle accidents, and vehicle rollovers. After an incident like this, it might be confusing to know whether you can file a complaint or not. At this point, you may ask yourself: were you hurt physically or financially? If the answer is yes, then you may file that claim. Louisiana law states that if someone harms you physically or financially, they are required to pay for the damage done. Since intentional work-related injuries fall under the category of personal injuries, you can go ahead and proceed with the steps of filing a claim. 

How to File a Claim

First things first, you will want to check your state’s statute of limitations. The period in which you can file a claim has an expiration date that is ordained by the state. If you think of filing a suit, you should get it done in a period that does not exceed 2 years since that is the time duration in most statutes. In Shreveport, LA, however, you have a period of time as short as one year, so if you’re thinking of filing suit, you should get it done without delay.

Next, you will have to file a complaint, which should include all facts related to your injury along with the identification of the defendant, in this case, your co-worker, as well as the plaintiff, which is you. You should write sentences or a paragraph on the legal theories and reasons for your allegations along with the damage compensation you’re expecting. You will also have to file a summons, which is a document that basically informs the defendant is being sued. The final step is serving a copy of both the summons and the complaint on the defendant. 

Workers’ Compensation

You will also have the right to a workers’ compensation claim, which is a form of insurance that provides medical benefits and wages to people who are injured while at work. Its coverage will differ according to the state you live in. In the case of an employee’s death in the course of doing the job, workers’ compensation will provide death benefits to the family of that employee. Ideally, you’ll have to visit a healthcare professional first so they can give you the medical reports to support your claims.

As you find light in your situation, don’t forget to seek medical attention first before proceeding and taking any legal actions. You may be disoriented, shocked, or stressed and the extra stress of worrying over the legal procedures will not help. The best thing you can do at that point is hiring a lawyer who will guide you through that difficult time.