Q: I was assaulted in the workplace, how can I sue the individual who assaulted me?

A: You would sue the person who assaulted you in the same lawsuit as the PI case against your employer. I suggest that you retain an attorney to handle both matters, or tell the attorney you already have on the employer case that you also want to sue the individual.

A: How you can sue the person is the easier answer: hire an attorney licensed to practice law in Florida and who regularly handles personal injury/assault cases to file a lawsuit. Whether you have a strong, recoverable case with sufficient damages is another question, which also requires hiring an attorney as there are many facts that your attorney will need to review to make that determination. Just because you can sue someone, doesn't always mean that you should. It may be your case that you should sue the person and employer, but you should hire an attorney to help you with that decision.

A: You can file a lawsuit against the person that assaulted you, and his homeowners insurance policy may cover your losses depending on how the assault took place. Often times, a clever lawyer can Argue the facts of the case to the insurance company such that the “exclusion for intentional acts” policy language does not bar coverage on the claim. I had a case once in which my clients were fired at by the assailant shooting a gun, and we collected policy limits on the argument that he did not intend to shoot them but only intended to scare them. They paid out $300,000 policy limit on that homeowners coverage. So you need to engage a lawyer to come up with these kind of clever arguments in an honest way so that you have possible coverage for your claim against the assailant.