A repairman arrives to your house in a company van. He rings the doorbell. You answer and let him into your home. You expected him. Your cable is not working and you called for service. Instead of making repairs, the repairman pulls a knife and attacks you. This is the tragic set of events that recently happened to an elderly lady in Texas. When her family later went to check on her, they found her stabbed to death. Yes, the attacker was eventually convicted and sentenced to life in prison. But, no criminal punishment will ever bring back a loved one.

We live in angry times. In the last couple years, we’ve seen a huge rise in workplace assaults where someone suffers a personal injury. I’ve written in the past few months about Alabama law related to workers’ compensation for assault-related injuries. By that, I mean an employee is the one injured in an assault. One well-known recent workplace assault case even occurred here in Madison County. If you want to know more about whether or not employees injured in workplace assaults are covered by workers compensation in Alabama, you can read some of my past posts on the topic.

I wrote last week about a different assault topic. If a customer is assaulted and injured by another customer (or guest) at a business, can the injured customer pursue a personal injury claim against that business? When is a business liable for assault-related injuries where a guest injures a customer? It’s a tricky issue. It’s often difficult to pursue a personal injury case in these situations. In my post last week, I discussed a hotel injury case where an angry person in the parking lot shot someone. It can be very difficult to hold a business liable for a criminal act committed by a guest or customer who simply comes on to the property. You can read my post from last week if you have questions about that issue.