Legal Question in Personal Injury in Massachusetts
I am a bus monitor for a vehicle that transports challenged adults to and from a day program. I am also on SSDI for my own assorted issues. One client who appears to have autism punched me in the chest and I did not hit him back--I walked away. I did tell the powers that be and asked them to log it in to the record. This client strikes out on a daily basis and is a head banger. Do I have the right to have him arrested if he should hit me again? What can I do legally and physically to defend myself? I do like the job except for this one unruly, volatile person and hate to quit. Thanks!
1 Answer from Attorneys
You handled the situation correctly by walking away from potential further violence rather than engaging in fisticuffs, and by documenting the incident with the program. I recommend you check with your employer before you have an autistic adult entrusted to your care arrested for behavior that is consistent with being an autistic adult as it would likely result in a lawsuit against both you (individually) and the program. It is likely that your employer has very strict rules for the use of force against disabled adults in its care (it should have these), and also has very strict rules about patient behavior that could result in this autistic person being ejected from the program.
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