Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

The State of California, and their employees have immunities from different torts. The system is complex, and their are prefiling requirements to get around these immunities, in addition to the standard claims filing requirements. If you are a union employee, you should speak to your union steward, and review the collective bargaining agreement that you are subject to. There is also a requirement in certain circumstances to file complaints with California's Fair Employment and Housing Administration and the State Personnel Board, as a prerequisite to litigation. I suggest that you speak to a competent labor law attorney who has handled these types of disputes, before you run off an file an lawsuit or claim.

What you describe is technically an assault, but it hardly sounds like something worth suing over. It's hard to imagine that a lawsuit would yield more than a token amount of damages, even if we assume that you can win. (Mr. Roach has given a very good summary of reasons why such a case could be a non-starter.) I think a written complaint to this man's supervisor should be enough.