if a mentally retarded person grabbed your breast would you press charges?

Question

i worked at anassisted living for mentally retarded people nad was firered today when i filed assault charges after my boob was grabbed so hard i bruised. my boss tried to tell me that it was wrong of me to report it to the police. i felt violated, and i am bruised. what do you think?

Answer 1

If an assault was committed against you, you can press charges. I've seen mentally handicapped people charged with assault and theft. Usually, they end up with diversion for their special circumstances, or they end up in some sort of therapy program, or the charges are dropped. It really depends on the capacity of the person who committed the assault.

It is not acceptable to just 'assume' that assault is acceptable in some professions. Bartenders don't work in bars with the assumption that - hey, it's okay for me to get assaulted, I'm a bartender. Healthcare workers shouldn't have to assume that they will get assaulted by their charges. Unreported assaults in health and assisted living situations are a huge problem for nurses and DSW's. Nobody should expect, and accept, being assaulted, no matter what their position.

You may have a case for wrongful dismissal. If you have a union, go and see your union representative. If not, I would either try to find a student legal aid or a regional legal aid office if you are low income, or find an employment lawyer who is willing to look at your case.

Answer 2

I think you would have to consider the level of mental retardation that exist in that person, for example;

If a retarded person is capable of obtaining an erection if shown pornographic material, then his interest as to the stimulation and desire is intact.

If a retarded person can repeatedly touch the breast of a manque, with out being told, then again his interest are intact.

The level of retardation would have to be observed and monitored to say if weather or not he/she knew what he/she was doing. People with special need are very strong and should they grab hold of you, it is more than likely unintentional. It takes a very long time to teach a special needs person to even accept or give a hug. Imagine, a kid or person not accepting a hug from a parent or loved one.

Answer 3

I had a co-worker who was mentally retarded try to grab my breast at work in front of 2 of the managers. I didn't file charges against him because I figured that his life bites as it is and he didn't know what he was doing. I agree with the person who said that you are in the wrong career. You should of already known that stuff like this happens when you work in any type of assisted living facility. He can't help that he is mentally retarded anymore than you can help how big your feet are. We are the way we are.

Answer 4

Yes, I would have called the police and made sure he was arrested and charges. How is he going to learn that it is wrong to touch another person's private parts without their permission. Trust me, If he grabbed your breast he knew what he was doing.

And no one as the right to grab a waitress butt in a bar. Mentally challenge people do go to work, they do not all the mentallity of a four year old. Some know right from wrong.

Answer 5

I regard a mentally retarded guy or woman as i might all and sundry else. i visit chat if spoken to, i'm well mannered as i may well be with all and sundry. i don't flow out of my thank you to assert 'hi' to a stranger, yet do not stay away from the two. i might regulate my wording and physique language, yet this may well be something that i might additionally do if I have been chatting with a guy or woman from yet another custom. this is approximately all i might exchange, I act like my mom raised me good.

Answer 6

I think you were working in the wrong business. Just like a waitress in a bar can absolutely guarantee that she will get her *** grabbed at one time or another, a mental health worker can assume the same from the retarded. It goes with the job.

Reporting it to the police is pointless as a mentally deficient person cannot be charged. He does not possess the mental capacity to distinguish right from wrong when considering acting on impulses. It's like reporting a four year old to the police.

A four year old might know that it's wrong to grab your breast, but can't be expected (legally) to restrain his curiosity. You felt violated because of what is in your own mind, not what is in the mind of the perpetrator. In order to work with the mentally disabled, you have to put yourself in their shoes (minds). You were fired because you were unable to do that.

While we can't give free reign to retarded people to act out on every sexual impulse, we have to expect that some transgressions will occur that we wouldn't tolerate from normal people. If you wouldn't have called the police for being bruised on your arm (which you shouldn't have), then you shouldn't have called them about your breast. You should have reported it to the facility administration and left it at that.

You missed an opportunity to help this person control himself if you didn't spend time with him afterwards, explaining the right and wrong of it. Retarded people can learn just like everyone else; it just takes more concrete examples and more time. By your reaction, I think that it's better for everyone that you find other work. You might be the best stitcher in the world, but if you can't stand the sight of blood, don't become a surgeon. Get it?

EDIT: For the reasons I stated above, you have no legal recourse for wrongful termination. All you are entitled to is unemployment benefits. Every healthcare worker has to expect to be assaulted in some manner by people who aren't capable of forming the requisite criminal intent that formal charges imply, whether it's because of mental defect or drug/trauma induced. Workers in hospitals get assaulted every day by patients who are out of their minds. These aren't criminal assaults, either.

Answer 7

You should have talked it over with your supervisor first, before filing charges.

Even if you filed charges thereafter, at least you attempted to go through the proper channels before bringing the law.

If this "special" person was a repeat offender, and your supervisor had not warned you about him, you might have a good suit against the assisted living facility and the supervisor...

Answer 8

You have a perfectly good reason to press charges. You should also sue for wrongful termination and legal fees.

Answer 9

I think you have a great case for Wrongful Termination. You should go see an attorney first thing monday morning.

Answer 10

I would not press charges. I just resigned from a similiar job, worked there for 19 years, and that is a very common thing. Do you really think that the MR resident wanted to commit a crime?