Civil Assault and Bouncer Assault

Portland, Oregon Civil Assault and Bouncer Assault Attorney

If you are the victim of an assault and battery, and want to make the perpetrator pay, the best option is legal recourse. Taking matters into your own hands is ill-advised. The right plaintiff’s lawyer will give you all the strength you need to fight back and get justice.

Nightclub security officers have no special rights when it comes to assault and battery. They do not have a special right to touch you, or commit battery against you. They do not have a special right to physically remove you from a club. Moreover, they do not have a right to put you in fear of imminent bodily harm, or commit assault. They can ask you to leave, and if you refuse they can call the police. They can defend themselves, but they have no special rights that put them above the law. They have no more authority to commit assault or battery than you do as a customer.

The owner of an establishment which employs a bouncer is liable for the bouncer’s conduct. When the owner puts a bad apple with a history of violence in a security uniform and stations him at the front entrance to the club, the bouncer is going to be around people. If the bouncer acts in a manner consistent with his history, loses his cool, and smashes a customer’s face into the pavement, the owner is liable. The owner owes customers a duty to keep the premises safe.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission keeps track of all alcohol related incidents, including those at night clubs. The OLCC files are where the knowledgeable personal injury attorney starts his investigation. If there is evidence of prior incidents at the nightclub with the same bouncer, the owner may be liable for punitive damages.

If a club is open to the public, it better have premises liability insurance to cover bouncer assaults. Premises liability insurance may include a special provision that pays medical bills — up to a certain amount — regardless of how the injury occurred, as long as it occurred on the insured premises. For example, if you fall down stairs inside the club and break your arm, medical bills will be paid up to a certain amount, usually $5,000, just because the injury happened on the insured property. These medical payments are made because of where the injury took place, not how it took place.

Liability claims pick up where medical coverage payments stop. Liability claims are based on negligence, which if proven, open the doors to significantly greater insurance coverage. Call Steve Smucker at 503-224-5077 to discuss the facts of any potential case against a bouncer for use of excessive force.

Assault and battery are crimes against the State. They are also torts against people. Crimes against the State are handled by the district attorney’s office, which may seek criminal sanctions. Tort claims, where money damages are sought for the injured person, are the province of the private civil lawyer. Steve Smucker is a private civil lawyer whose goal is to recover all the money he can for assault victims. He successfully represented a female guest against a hotel clerk who assaulted her in her room. He helped a 25 year old man recover money damages against a nightclub after the club’s bouncer knocked him unconscious. Most recently, Steve recovered $300,000 for a man assaulted by a pumped up, muscle bound stranger with bipolar disease, in a case involving road rage.

ACTIONS FOR INTIMIDATION (HATE CRIMES)

ORS 30.198 states that any person injured by a violation of ORS 166.155 or 166.165 (hate crimes) shall have a civil action to secure an injunction, damages or other appropriate relief against any and all persons whose actions are unlawful under ORS 166.155 and 166.165. Upon prevailing, the plaintiff may recover special and general damages, damages for emotional distress, punitive damages, and attorney fees.

Every case is different. Every assault and battery victim gets Steve Smucker’s full attention. Contact Steve at 503-224-5077 to talk about what happened, and to get a full explanation of your rights.