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is there a civil suit in this situation?
i have a case coming up at the end of november for a robbery that took place 2 years ago.
i was working as a clerk in a gas station while attending college and towards the end of november i was robbed 2 times within 3 nights by the same person. there was no physical harm done, i did have a slight panic attack the second time however. none of my money was taken and i voluntarily left my job and was not going to be fired. i did have nightmares for a month or two after the situation.
this is being brought up now because there was a spree of robberies by these two guys in west virginia and pennsylvania and i suppose they are getting off on parole in wv so they are attempting to try them in pittsburgh at the end of the month.
i was curious if for any reason i could file a civil suit against any specific party.
thanks
Firstly the Statute of Limitations may not apply - limits vary from anywhere between 2 - 7 years, so make sure you check out the laws in your area - ignore the poster who said you couldn't!
You could sue civilly if you can prove on the balance of probabilities that these were the guys who robbed you. This would be made easier if they are convicted criminally.
You could sue for assault - which is a tort for threatening actions such as being held a gun point, being told that you are going to be punched in the face, even phone calls saying that someone is going to kill you..you don't need to prove physical injury, but just that you feared for your safety.
You could also try to sue for negligence. The hardest part in this would be proving that they owed you a duty of care. If you can prove that, then all you have to do is show that they breached this duty of care ie; by robbing you/threatening you etc, and it caused some type of damage (which was caused by their actions) such as the nightmares. It would also help if you saw a counsellor, psychologist, psychiartrist or even a doctor, as then you would be able to prove that such damage occured.
The other party you could attempt to sue could be your previous employer. They certainly owe you a duty of care, but you need to prove that they breached the standard of care - ie; by not providing adequate security. Your case could be strengthened by the fact that you were robbed in the same manner on consecutive nights if you employer was aware of the situation and failed to do anything to prevent a further attack.
This of course would all depend on the precedents set in your area and as I'm not familiar with US law, you would need to contact a lawyer in your area.
Keep in mind that even if you have a case (which you may, but on the facts provided may be quite week - except for an action for assault), the likely payout would be quite small - I mean obviously it must've been a horrible experience which did affect you for sometime afterwards, in comparison to other cases the damages weren't too bad. There was no physical injury, and a stress reaction is often not given high priority in court cases. In regards to the assault, the payout once again is likely to be quite low. Sometimes it's better to move on with these things.
The other thing to keep in mind is, at least in Australia, we have victims compensation. If you're a victim of a crime, you may be able to get compensation for things like medical/psych expenses or even stress - things like leaving your job as a direct result of the incident etc. To find out whether this is available in your area just contact the police station where you made the complaint.
But ultimately my advice would be to see a lawyer in your area and have a chat to them - see if they think you have a case and what they can do.
Cheers!
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