Whether voluntary or involuntary, receiving inpatient psychiatric care at a specialized treatment facility can be an intensely stressful experience under the best of circumstances. Unfortunately, there is an increasing body of evidence that suggests many patients experience sexual abuse in psychiatric hospitals. Many of the victims suffer long-lasting or even life-altering harm from sexual assault committed against them or enabled by facility staff members.
If you suffered sexual abuse in a psychiatric hospital, you may have grounds to file a suit against the people who assaulted you and those who neglected their duty to protect you. However, these claims can be challenging on legal and personal levels. Therefore, seeking the support of a seasoned sexual abuse attorney from Phillips Law Group can be crucial to obtaining the best possible case result.
Improper sexual contact in inpatient psychiatric care facilities can involve staff members committing assaults on people in their care or residents inflicting abuse on fellow residents. In both scenarios, the individuals who actually committed unlawful acts of sexual misconduct can be held personally liable for damages stemming from their actions. These damages can include economic losses, such as medical bills and diminished working capacity, as well as non-economic losses, such as physical pain and emotional stress.
However, it is also often possible to hold management, administrators, and hospital owners liable for sexual abuse within the facilities they oversee. They may be directly responsible for failing to supervise residents, perform background checks on new hires, and respond quickly and appropriately to reports of sexual abuse from patients or staff. Alternatively, they may be vicariously liable for their employees’ misconduct at work.
It can be beneficial to start legal proceedings as soon as possible if someone wishes to file a civil suit against the person or people responsible for the sexual assault they experienced in a psychiatric hospital. It is important to note that most states have distinct statutes of limitations for sexual abuse lawsuits, which provide victims with more time to sue their abusers than in standard personal injury lawsuits.
For example, the standard statute of limitations for personal injury claims in this state is codified in Arizona Revised Statutes § 12-542 and generally gives an individual two years at most to file a suit after initially sustaining an injury. However, thanks to a recent change in state law, A.R.S. § 12-514 allows survivors of sexual abuse up to 12 years to file a lawsuit after the most recent date the abuse occurred. Furthermore, if someone experienced sexual abuse as a minor, this filing period does not begin until their 18th birthday. For example, if the abuse occurred 12 years before that date, they would have until their 30th birthday to file a lawsuit.
No one deserves to be sexually assaulted under any circumstances, and you are not to blame if you have experienced such abuse. However, filing a civil suit for this kind of misconduct can be challenging, even with substantial evidence to support your claim.
Fortunately, Phillips Law Group can provide compassionate, personalized support to help you pursue the restitution you deserve. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation to explore your options for suing over sexual abuse in psychiatric hospitals.
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