Assaulted on the Job in NJ: Workers' Compensation and Employer Liability for Workplace Attacks

Workplace assaults can involve coworkers, customers, patients, or other third parties, and the legal outcome is not always the same. Our attorneys at Brandon J. Broderick regularly help workers evaluate these cases. New Jersey law focuses on why the incident happened, what the employer knew before it occurred, and whether the employer failed to meet a legal duty. 

A worker injured in a workplace assault may have more than the right to medical treatment, including workers' compensation benefits and, in some cases, other legal claims. 

In this guide, we talk about workplace assault claims, why an employer may be liable beyond the workers' compensation system, what evidence shapes these cases, and when to contact an employment lawyer in New Jersey. 

When Being Assaulted at Work in NJ Qualifies as a Work Injury

An intentional attack doesn’t fall outside workers’ compensation. The Garden State views the incident from the victim’s perspective. For someone assaulted at work in New Jersey, the harm must arise out of and occur in the course of employment.

“In the course of employment” refers to the time, place, and circumstances. “Arising out of employment” asks why the worker faced the risk. N.J.S.A. 34:15-7 requires both. Being attacked during a shift doesn’t always establish a job connection.

New Jersey law separates these cases into employment, neutral, and personal risks. Employment risks are part of the work. Neutral risks are not job-related on their own but become work-related because the job places the worker in harm's way, as sometimes happens when hospitality workers are assaulted by guests. Personal risks remain outside workers' compensation because they do not have a meaningful connection to the job. 

The Appellate Division restated this analysis in Avery v. Next Mile, LLC in 2024. Its positional-risk test asks if the injury was more likely at work than elsewhere. Coverage exists unless personal revenge or a private relationship drove the attack.

Work-connected examples include:

• A patient strikes a nurse, aide, or emergency department employee.
• A customer attacks a cashier during a robbery.
• A coworker starts a fight over assignments, discipline, scheduling, or work performance.
• A passenger assaults a driver or transit employee on a route.
• A delivery worker is attacked while completing an assigned stop.

A different result follows when work merely provides the setting for a private feud. In Joseph v. Monmouth County, a coworker attacked a nursing supervisor over a private investment arrangement. Despite the location, the court found no employment connection. Similar questions arise with domestic disputes and personal debts.

Motive is often disputed. Police reports, witness accounts, earlier messages, and the words spoken during the attack help identify its source. Random violence also deserves close review. New Jersey has treated some unexplained or irrational attacks as neutral risks because the worker's job placed the victim where the assault occurred. The hospitality industry has responded to similar risks by equipping many hotel workers with panic buttons when they enter guest rooms alone. 

Workplace violence remains a serious occupational hazard. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded 733 fatal work injuries involving violent acts in 2024. Homicides accounted for 470 of them, up from 458 in 2023. Those figures don’t decide an individual claim, but they show why an intentional attack still belongs in a workplace injury analysis.

Healthcare workers face an especially concentrated risk. A 2024 CDC/NIOSH review reported that health care workers represented 10% of the workforce but experienced 48% of nonfatal injuries caused by workplace violence.

Filing a Workers' Comp Claim After a Workplace Attack in NJ

Workers’ compensation operates without proof of fault. An employee need not show that the employer caused the attack, ignored warnings, or provided weak security. A qualifying workplace attack brings defined medical and disability benefits. For example:

• Necessary medical treatment, prescriptions, hospitalization, and rehabilitation are authorized by the employer or insurance carrier
• Temporary disability payments after more than seven days of disability are equal to 70% of the worker’s average weekly wage, within the annual minimum and maximum
• Permanent partial disability payments for lasting loss of function
• Permanent total disability benefits when the worker remains unable to perform any gainful employment
• Dependency and funeral benefits when an on-the-job assault causes death

Medical coverage reaches both physical and psychological injuries, including concussions, nerve damage, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Mental health claims under workers' compensation often depend on medical records that connect those symptoms to the workplace assault. Workers should tell the authorized doctor when each symptom began because linking a later diagnosis becomes harder if early records do not mention fear, panic, sleep problems, or other symptoms. 

New Jersey lets the employer or carrier select the treating provider. Emergency care is an exception. After a stabbing, shooting, head injury, or strangulation, workers should seek immediate help and notify the employer promptly. Later treatment outside the authorized system risks a payment dispute.

N.J.S.A. 34:15-17 requires notice within 90 days. A written report should identify the date, location, attacker, and injuries. Workers should also keep:

• Photographs of injuries and the scene
• Names and contact information for witnesses
• Police, security, and internal incident report numbers
• Threatening texts, emails, or social media messages
• Work schedules and assignments placing them at the location
• Copies of medical restrictions and notes sent to management

The deadline to file a formal claim petition is two years from the assault or the last compensation payment, whichever comes later. Authorized medical treatment counts as compensation, while an informal hearing request doesn’t stop the clock. Our attorneys at Brandon J. Broderick often review the timeline early to make sure important deadlines are not missed. 

Filing a workers' compensation claim does not end if the insurance carrier denies treatment or wage benefits. The worker has the right to file a motion for medical and temporary benefits, and the Division generally schedules the first hearing within 30 days after the motion is filed. 

N.J.S.A. 34:15-39.1 also makes it illegal for an employer to fire or discriminate against a worker for filing a workers' compensation claim or testifying in a workers' compensation case. If a worker loses a job for another reason, separate laws involving disability discrimination or leave rights may also apply. 

Employer Liability for Workplace Violence in New Jersey

Employer liability for violence is narrower than many workers expect. N.J.S.A. 34:15-8 makes workers’ compensation the only remedy against an employer for a covered injury. Its exclusivity rule blocks ordinary tort claims for negligent security, negligent hiring, poor supervision, or unanswered threats.

Even serious fault doesn’t necessarily remove the bar. In 2024’s Rodriguez v. Shelbourne Spring, LLC, the New Jersey Supreme Court separated negligence, gross negligence, and recklessness from an intentional wrong. The first group remained limited to workers’ compensation regardless of the labels used.

When an On-the-Job Assault Falls Within New Jersey's Intentional-Wrong Exception

A civil case against the employer must meet New Jersey’s demanding intentional-wrong test. An employer ordering, arranging, or joining an attack offers a direct example. Ignored threats, refused security, and earlier violence provide relevant evidence, but foreseeability alone falls short of substantial certainty.

Several routes beyond workers’ compensation still deserve review:

• The attacker: A coworker receives immunity for accidental negligence, but N.J.S.A. 34:15-8 excludes intentional wrongs. A worker has grounds to sue a dangerous coworker who committed an assault, although collecting a judgment presents another issue.
• An outside party: A customer, patient, visitor, or former partner does not receive the employer’s workers’ compensation immunity. A civil claim against the attacker remains available.
• A property owner or security contractor: Liability depends on control, assigned duties, prior incidents, and reasonable precautions. A separate company responsible for the premises or security might face a negligence claim.
• A bias-based attacker: Physical violence connected to race, sex, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or another protected trait also supports analysis under the

A worker may receive workers' compensation benefits while also pursuing a claim against the person or company responsible for the assault. The law coordinates those recoveries so the worker is not paid twice for the same loss. Our legal team regularly builds these cases together, helping workers pursue damages that workers' compensation doesn’t cover, including pain and suffering. 

Safety laws also play a role. OSHA can investigate workplace violence when the employer knew it was a serious hazard and reasonable steps could have reduced the risk. Public employers in New Jersey are covered by PEOSH, and some health care and public transportation workplaces have additional safety requirements. Filing an OSHA or PEOSH complaint does not provide compensation to the injured worker. 

What to Do After Being Assaulted at Work in NJ: Evidence, Claims, and Deadlines 

One attack might produce a criminal prosecution, workers’ compensation petition, civil lawsuit, discrimination claim, and retaliation dispute. Each serves a different purpose. Criminal court punishes the attacker, compensation pays defined benefits, and civil or employment claims address other losses.

Proof should show both what happened and why it was connected to work. Useful evidence includes:

• Surveillance video, body-camera footage, and 911 recordings
• Police reports, criminal complaints, and restraining orders
• Witness statements and the names of employees who saw earlier confrontations
• Reports to supervisors, human resources, or security before the attack
• Records of prior threats or violence involving the same person
• Staffing levels, security logs, access records, and relevant company policies
• Medical records linking physical and psychological conditions to the assault
• Pay records documenting time missed and reduced earnings

A thorough legal review should identify every responsible party, determine what insurance applies, and address the workers' compensation lien. Coordinating the claims helps preserve your right to compensation and reduces the risk of one settlement affecting another claim. 

If you have questions about your rights after a workplace assault, contact us today to speak with our legal team.