The majority of personal injury claims in Georgia involve businesses or people who injured someone by failing to take reasonable care when they were required by law to do so. But what if someone hurts you on purpose?
There are instances in which you may bring a lawsuit against someone for physical assault or unlawful contact, as Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys can explain. However, a lot will depend on the situation. Here are a few things to think about:
- How severely the victim’s injuries were physical.
- Whether the victim was abused or touched by someone in a trusted position.
- Whether the perpetrator of the assault/touch was working when the incident took place.
- If the incident took place on a person’s or company’s property, that had a responsibility to look out for the victim. If yes, whether there had been any previous violent occurrences that took place there that would have made this one predictable to the owner of the business or property.
It’s crucial that you examine your choices with an experienced attorney because there are numerous things to take into account when determining whether to file a lawsuit for physical assault or inappropriate contact.
Tort Claims With Intent
Someone who physically abuses you or makes inappropriate physical contact with you may be held liable under an intentional tort claim.
A tort, in general, is a civil suit brought about by a negligent deed that causes harm to a person or destroys their property. Deliberate conduct that produces harm is referred to as an intentional tort. A component of intent is necessary.
An example of an intentional tort is:
- Assault
- Battery
- False death
- Suppression of the truth
- Defamation
- An unlawful prosecution
- purposefully causing emotional pain
A battery is the intentional touching of a person without that person’s consent, whereas an assault is the threat or attempt to do bodily damage. In Georgia, it is assumed by the law that everyone has the right to refrain from unwanted physical contact.
There are three defences to intentional tort claims:
- A denial (a denial that the defendant committed the actions claimed by the plaintiff),
- Providing justification (admitting the act but disputing its wrongness),
- There is also an argument called mitigation (admitting responsibility for the wrongdoing but, in evidence, arguing against the damages due to the lack of malice, bad faith, or intended harm