Workplace violence can happen in almost any work environment. It may involve a co-worker, supervisor, customer, patient, client, visitor, stranger, or someone from the worker’s personal life who comes to the jobsite. In some cases, the incident is a sudden physical attack. In others, it may involve threats, intimidation, or escalating behavior that leaves an employee afraid to return to work.
The North Carolina Department of Labor describes workplace violence as violence or the threat of violence against workers, ranging from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and homicide. But that broad safety definition is not the same thing as workers’ compensation coverage. North Carolina workers’ compensation law uses a more specific test.
In North Carolina, an injured worker generally must show that the injury was caused by an accident, arose out of the employment, and occurred in the course of the employment. Wake County Hospital System, Inc. v. Safety National Casualty Corp., 127 N.C. App. 33 (N.C. Ct. App. 1997). In plain English, that means the injury must be connected to the job, not simply happen while the worker is on the clock.
This distinction is especially important in workplace violence cases. A physical assault may feel obviously “work-related” because it happened at work. But under North Carolina law, the key question is usually why the violence occurred and whether the job created or increased the risk.
An unexpected assault may qualify as an “accident” under the Workers’ Compensation Act. Daniels v. Swofford, 55 N.C. App. 555 (N.C. Ct. App. 1982). But that is only part of the analysis. The worker still must show that the assault arose out of the employment. An intentional assault by a co-worker or third party does not arise out of employment unless there is “a job-related motivation or some other causal relation between the job and the assault.” Wake County Hospital System, Inc. v. Safety National Casualty Corp., 127 N.C. App. 33 (N.C. Ct. App. 1997).
For example, a co-worker assault may be covered when the conflict grows out of the work itself. If employees argue about job duties, work methods, tools, performance, scheduling, or other workplace responsibilities, and that dispute leads to violence, the claim may have the required work connection. Withers v. Black, 230 N.C. 428 (N.C. 1949), held that a co-worker assault may arise out of employment when the dispute concerns “the manner of doing the work” the employees were hired to perform.
Claims may also be stronger when the nature of the job exposes the worker to a heightened risk of violence. This can include workers who handle money, interact with angry customers, provide medical or social services, work in security or law enforcement, respond to volatile individuals, or work alone in circumstances that create a job-related risk. A cashier attacked during a customer dispute, a nurse assaulted by a patient, or a security guard injured while responding to a threat may have a stronger argument that the violence arose out of the employment.
By contrast, a personal dispute that merely follows someone into the workplace may not be covered. Privately motivated assaults that spring from disputes brought to the workplace from outside generally are not compensable because they are foreign to the employment relationship. Ross v. Mark’s Inc., 120 N.C. App. 607 (N.C. Ct. App. 1995). A domestic violence incident, private grudge, romantic dispute, or personal revenge motive can be extremely serious, but it may fall outside workers’ compensation if the employment only provided the location or opportunity for the attack.
What About Threats, Verbal Abuse, Bullying, or Intimidation?
Threats, yelling, intimidation, and verbal abuse should be taken seriously, reported, and documented. But standing alone, they are often difficult workers’ compensation claims in North Carolina.
For an injury-by-accident claim, the worker generally must show an unexpected or unusual event, not just an unpleasant workplace interaction. Knight v. Abbott Laboratories, 160 N.C. App. 542 (N.C. Ct. App. 2003), held that a loud, angry confrontation with a supervisor was not a compensable injury by accident where the dispute was treated as an ordinary workplace disagreement. Similarly, Pitillo v. N.C. Department of Environmental Health & Natural Resources, 151 N.C. App. 641 (N.C. Ct. App. 2002), held that a performance-review meeting was not a workplace accident even though the claimant alleged stress-induced anxiety and a nervous breakdown.
A mental-health claim may also be brought as an occupational disease, but that path is narrow. The worker must show job-specific conditions, not ordinary workplace stress. General workplace stressors such as demanding workload, lack of support, staffing disputes, restructuring, shift changes, and job-security anxiety were not enough in Lewis v. Duke University, 163 N.C. App. 408 (N.C. Ct. App. 2004).
So, a claim based only on a mean boss, bullying, verbal abuse, or intimidation is often an uphill battle. Stronger claims usually involve physical injury, medical treatment, a specific traumatic event, diagnosed psychological harm, and facts showing that the risk was tied directly to the job.
When Should You Call a Lawyer?
Workplace violence claims are fact-specific. Helpful evidence may include incident reports, police reports, witness statements, video footage, medical records, prior threats, text messages, and facts showing why the violence occurred.
If you were physically injured, needed medical treatment, or suffered serious psychological harm after workplace violence, threats, or intimidation in North Carolina, you should speak with an experienced workers’ compensation attorney.
Were you a victim of workplace violence in North Carolina and think you may have a workers’ compensation claim? Contact Kornbluth Ginsberg Law Group, P.A. at 919-980-9895 for a free consultation.
