Slapped in Face by Supervisor at Work - Don't Know What to Do Next
My question involves criminal law for the state of: Virginia
I'm really hoping someone can offer advice or help me figure out what to make of all this.
I was slapped in the face (unprovoked, and I did not hit back) by my supervisor at work a few months ago. Besides the humiliation of everyone knowing what happened, I suffered no permanent physical damage. It is obviously very hard to go to work every day where everyone knows what happened. I went through the upper levels at work and after an investigation and multiple meetings, they have decided to allow this person return in 10 months, where he/she goes without pay for the duration of the suspension. That feels very unjust to me - this was assault and battery, am I over-reacting?
My question is: the statute is 1 year for filing assault charges in Virginia according to a peace officer in town. I'm afraid of consequences at work and in my professional career if I follow through with assault charges with the police. It's clear the place where I work wants to brush this aside as quickly as possible. I'll be leaving this place in 2 months at which point I will never be returning (as far as I know).
If I press charges, how long does the process take? There were witnesses who saw part of what happened, but no one clearly saw the whole thing happen from beginning to end. What is involved in filing charges? Does it involve showing up in court? Is there possibility of me being sued for filing charges? I'll actually be leaving this place of work in 2 months, but it feels unjust and wrong that someone should physically assault me at work and get away with it.
Should I do anything about this or forget it and move on? Is this something worth talking to a lawyer about? I don't want any money for any of this, I just want justice. There are further details about this situation that makes the whole thing more egregious, but I can't disclose those since it'll easily identify me and my situation.
Re: Slapped in Face by Supervisor at Work - Don't Know What to Do Next
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That feels very unjust to me - this was assault and battery, am I over-reacting?
why did you not call the police when it happened?.
While it is likely not beyond the statute of limitations, the prosecutor is not likely to bother with this since you did not believe it warranted reporting the crime immediately after it happened.
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Should I do anything about this or forget it and move on?
yep
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Does it involve showing up in court?
yep
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If I press charges, how long does the process take?
think months or years.
Re: Slapped in Face by Supervisor at Work - Don't Know What to Do Next
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beady.eyes03
My question involves criminal law for the state of: Virginia
I'm really hoping someone can offer advice or help me figure out what to make of all this.
I was slapped in the face (unprovoked, and I did not hit back) by my supervisor at work a few months ago. Besides the humiliation of everyone knowing what happened, I suffered no permanent physical damage. It is obviously very hard to go to work every day where everyone knows what happened. I went through the upper levels at work and after an investigation and multiple meetings, they have decided to allow this person return in 10 months, where he/she goes without pay for the duration of the suspension. That feels very unjust to me - this was assault and battery, am I over-reacting?
My question is: the statute is 1 year for filing assault charges in Virginia according to a peace officer in town. I'm afraid of consequences at work and in my professional career if I follow through with assault charges with the police. It's clear the place where I work wants to brush this aside as quickly as possible. I'll be leaving this place in 2 months at which point I will never be returning (as far as I know).
If I press charges, how long does the process take? There were witnesses who saw part of what happened, but no one clearly saw the whole thing happen from beginning to end. What is involved in filing charges? Does it involve showing up in court? Is there possibility of me being sued for filing charges? I'll actually be leaving this place of work in 2 months, but it feels unjust and wrong that someone should physically assault me at work and get away with it.
Should I do anything about this or forget it and move on? Is this something worth talking to a lawyer about? I don't want any money for any of this, I just want justice. There are further details about this situation that makes the whole thing more egregious, but I can't disclose those since it'll easily identify me and my situation.
Go to magistrate of local court and fill out the paperwork. You will need their personal info, date time etc. you can easily get charges filed and your work is not able to stop you.
Re: Slapped in Face by Supervisor at Work - Don't Know What to Do Next
I agree that they can fill out the report. I agree that the employer cannot stop him from doing so.
I do not agree that, several months after the fact, they can "easily" get charges filed. I also do not agree, based on the information currently available to us, with the implication that the employer can take no action.
Re: Slapped in Face by Supervisor at Work - Don't Know What to Do Next
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cbg
I agree that they can fill out the report. I agree that the employer cannot stop him from doing so.
I do not agree that, several months after the fact, they can "easily" get charges filed. I also do not agree, based on the information currently available to us, with the implication that the employer can take no action.
The statute of limitations is there for a reason. The magistrate and the courts only care that charges were files within the appropriate time frame.
I have seen charges files six and seven months after the date of occurance without the commissioner or magistrate blinking an eye.
It would not be wise for the OPs employer to take action if they filed charges for assault on the supervisor.
Re: Slapped in Face by Supervisor at Work - Don't Know What to Do Next
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bam!
The statute of limitations is there for a reason. The magistrate and the courts only care that charges were files within the appropriate time frame.
I have seen charges files six and seven months after the date of occurance without the commissioner or magistrate blinking an eye.
It would not be wise for the OPs employer to take action if they filed charges for assault on the supervisor.
a prosecutor will want to know why nothing was reported before now. It is now obvious it is not because the OP believes they should be prosecuted. If so, they would have called when it happened. It is obvious it is as a vendetta. They were not concerned enough to file a complaint when it happened but now that the OP realizes the aggressor is not going to lose their job, all of a sudden they want justice.
Do you really think the prosecutor will give it a second though since the OP refused to file a complaint when it happened? I would put money on they won't.
and then we have this:
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There were witnesses who saw part of what happened, but no one clearly saw the whole thing happen from beginning to end.
and every one of them has had a few months for their memory to start to fade.
yes, the sol is there for a reason. It is so a criminal doesn't escape justice because the crime was not discovered, they could not be found, or it took some time before enough evidence was gathered to mount a case. It is not there for a person to play the system and try to use the courts to extract justice because they just found out the penalty imposed by their employer is not as great as they believe it should be.
Re: Slapped in Face by Supervisor at Work - Don't Know What to Do Next
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bam!
Go to magistrate of local court and fill out the paperwork. You will need their personal info, date time etc. you can easily get charges filed and your work is not able to stop you.
Thank you for your response. A few questions for you, more for my education than anything else:
How long does this process take? For example, if I go to the court and fill out paperwork today? And once that paperwork is filled out, where does it go from there?
Re: Slapped in Face by Supervisor at Work - Don't Know What to Do Next
How lovely is it that you thanked the one person who didn't reply with a legally accurate response.
Call an attorney.
Re: Slapped in Face by Supervisor at Work - Don't Know What to Do Next
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Dogmatique
How lovely is it that you thanked the one person who didn't reply with a legally accurate response.
Call an attorney.
Thank you, will do.
Re: Slapped in Face by Supervisor at Work - Don't Know What to Do Next
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beady.eyes03
I went through the upper levels at work and after an investigation and multiple meetings, they have decided to allow this person return in 10 months, where he/she goes without pay for the duration of the suspension. That feels very unjust to me - this was assault and battery, am I over-reacting?
We don't know the full facts, but you're stating that this person has been suspended without pay for months, and will be suspended without pay for 10 more months? How is that person supporting herself during that year+ suspension without pay? Has this person sought unemployment? If so, did your employer contest their application? On the grounds that the suspension was due to their hitting you?
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Quoting beady.eyes03
I'm afraid of consequences at work and in my professional career if I follow through with assault charges with the police.
If you choose not to file a battery charge because you're afraid of the consequences at work, the result will be that this person is not prosecuted.
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Quoting beady.eyes03
There were witnesses who saw part of what happened, but no one clearly saw the whole thing happen from beginning to end.
And we should infer what from that statement? That nobody saw this person strike you? That this person claimed you struck her first and you have no witnesses to verify that you did not? That this person denies striking you and that your employer concluded that the slap was not substantiated, but suspended the supervisor for other reasons? Something else?
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Quoting beady.eyes03
What is involved in filing charges?
The normal approach is to go to the police station and make a report of the alleged offense.
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bam!
Go to magistrate of local court and fill out the paperwork.
Although magistrates can initiate criminal charges based upon a civilian complaint, that's done based upon sworn testimony as opposed to filling out paperwork and would be somewhat unusual. As the Magistrate manual indicates, "While it appears that a magistrate has the authority to issue arrest warrants for specific charges not requested by a law enforcement officer, the magistrate should exercise restraint and do so only when she believes that the interest of justice requires such action. Such charging decisions generally should be left to the discretion of the attorney for the Commonwealth or a law-enforcement agency."
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bam!
The statute of limitations is there for a reason. The magistrate and the courts only care that charges were files within the appropriate time frame.
It's going to depend upon the full facts.
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jk
...and every one of them has had a few months for their memory to start to fade.
From what we've been told, this was thoroughly investigated by the employer, with disciplinary action taken against the accused. I suspect that memories remain reasonably fresh, and (assuming a half-way competent investigation) there should be documentation of employee statements that could be used to refresh memories. The part I find more problematic is, "no one clearly saw the whole thing happen from beginning to end", a statement that suggests that there were multiple witnesses to much of the incident but that none of them saw a slap, or possibly even that the supervisor claimed to have been struck first. In the former case, that creates possible issues of proof; in the latter case, a complaint could result in mutual charges. Without more facts, we're not in a good position to comment on what might happen.
As a general rule, the longer it takes for somebody to report an offense (particularly a minor offense) to the police, the less likely it is that the report will result in a criminal prosecution. How much less likely? That depends upon the facts, as well as such factors as the practices of the police department and the police department's work load.