Universal Management Lets Guest Get Away With Battery

[felinefan]

Contacted the workman's comp company that handled my claim, and they said I needed to contact Knott's to get permission to release the police report. I said that because of the way Knott's treated me which led to my leaving,I was so not talking to them. The company rep was kind enough to call Knott's, and they called me back to say that Knott's refused to give them permission to release the report. Why the fuck not? I have the right to see that and get a copy, as well as my employee records. What are they hiding? At Knott's they could be hiding anything. Anyway, the rep suggested getting a subpoena. Good thing I have a sister who works for an attorney! :twisted:

[blondeheroine]

Contacted the workman's comp company that handled my claim, and they said I needed to contact Knott's to get permission to release the police report. I said that because of the way Knott's treated me which led to my leaving,I was so not talking to them. The company rep was kind enough to call Knott's, and they called me back to say that Knott's refused to give them permission to release the report. Why the fuck not? I have the right to see that and get a copy, as well as my employee records. What are they hiding? At Knott's they could be hiding anything. Anyway, the rep suggested getting a subpoena. Good thing I have a sister who works for an attorney! :twisted:

Granted, I know nothing about the law, but I've heard of people going public with their dilemma through blogs and such and making such a stink that the company had to acquiese to the employee in order to save face. Again, I'm not an attorney, so I have little knowledge of the law and freely admit it, but it might be something to think about. :)

[DisneyMom]

I believe that if a civil suit was filed, a subpoena for the police report would go to the station and need to be complied with...a lawyer told me that once in regards to our local Sheriff's station refusing to hand over a report involving
our autistic minor son....long story, didn't need to get it as bogus charges were dropped. Good Luck, keep us updated.

[CujoSR]

Battery is the unlawful and unwanted touching or striking of one person by another, with the intention of bringing about a harmful or offensive contact.

Your Right! Check out this story for Reuters.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A man who intentionally spat at another can be charged with criminal assault, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Wednesday.

Jeffrey Lewellyn was sentenced to two years probation and 50 hours of community service after he spat in 2004 at a patient who swore at him on the grounds of a Veterans Administration Medical Center in Walla Walla, Washington.

He appealed the conviction, arguing that spitting did not constitute an assault, but the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed.

"Intentionally spitting on another person is an offensive touching that rises to the level of simple assault," the three-judge panel wrote.

[Driver_dylan]

Talk to security, They are bound by state law to have made a report with all the names involved. If they have no such report. (as I suspect the manager did not call them) then you need to contact Ray Wellman (his office is in B20 on the left side) He is/was the head of human resources workers affairs, and a stand up guy.
If your friend sticks to his guns about pressing charges and can prove that that was his intent on the day of the incident, and if the Manager did not follow through, then the manager can be terminated or worse. This could really be trouble for Universal and they know it, so they will be forced to error on your side. Just don't forget the magic world "Lawsuit".

[Teddykeiko86]

I am not surprised. USH was infamous for rewarding the guests for being @$$holes. Anything from letting guests in a ride after it closed and after they cussed out the greeter, to letting guests to lazy to get a GAP ( like a GAC) cuss out the employee, and then let them through w/o a GAP and give them a FOTL pass.
I once was slapped on the wrist by a chinese woman for not letting her granddaughter on the mummy. I didn't even bother to report it, because I was burnt out and ready to quit at any second already. But besides that, one of my leads at Shrek 4D told me that when she worked characters, two teens nocked the head off a character and were given VIP passes. WTF? something isn't right here.
I know it is important to make the guest happy, but at what cost?

[CA Screamin Dude]

First and foremost, the differences between "assault" and "battery" are important to note. Too often alleged victims accuse their aggressor of "assault" when they really mean "battery."

A battery is any willful and unlawful use of force or violence
upon the person of another and assault is an unlawful attempt, coupled with a present ability, to commit a violent injury on the person of another. Battery is more serious than assault.

That said, the role of the security guard is to protect people and property of employer/client. Prior to an incident, a security guard's responsibility is prevention. During and after an incident/offense, the security guard's responsibility is to observe and report.

The security guard has the authority to question people and even ask them to leave. The security guard does not have greater authority than most other private persons when it comes to power to arrest. A security guard is a private person acting on behalf of an employer/client. A security guard, just like any other private person, may only arrest another person for a misdemeanor (such as assault or battery) when the misdemeanor undoubtedly was attempted (assault) or committed (battery), and it must have taken place in the security guard's presence. Though the incident you describe may have happened with many witnesses present, it doesn't appear that security was there and observed the incident while it occurred. Therefore, even if the evidence is indisputable, security does not have the power to arrest the suspect. In this situation, only a sworn peace officer has that power and duty. Security guards never have a duty to arrest, even for the most egregious felony.

As a private person, you have the right to arrest another private person who commits a misdemeanor against you, such as battery. You also have the right to ask others to assist you in making such an arrest (e.g., your friend could have arrested the suspect and asked security to assist in the arrest). You also always have the right to call 911 or get emergency services to help you. No employer may prohibit nor penalize an employee from reporting a crime to police, even if Disney/Universal has a "no cell phone on stage" policy. Public safety trumps private enterprise (and at least at Disney, the Safety key is #1... Show is only #3).

Universal may or may not be civilly liable. Here are some questions for your friend to consider. Did your friend attempt to talk to security and the manager interfered? How were the security guards trained? Are they accredited with the state (guard card)? Has the manager been trained as a security guard? Has the manager been trained in powers of arrest? Does the manager have a guard card (if the manager is acting as a security supervisor without the same credential the guards have...)? Did the manager ever entertain the notion of calling 911? Did your friend ever ask for the police other than telling the manager he just wished to press charges (a police report can be filled out after the fact, at the end of the shift -- there's a difference between wanting to press charges and actively calling the police)?

I'm not sure how it is in Florida, but in CA, security would not have been bound by state law to file an internal report. They would, however, be civilly liable for failing to do so, but it would not be any liability imposed by state law governing security operations (a BSIS regulation, for instance).

Ultimately, it sounds as if security was never in a situation where they could arrest the suspect. They only showed up after the fact. Even if your friend talked to them, they wouldn't have been able to arrest the suspect (remember, your friend could have arrested the person and recruited security to help him do so). The bottom line for all of us as citizens (even for those of us who make sworn arrests in lieu of private arrests) is to always remember that any private person may arrest another for the commission of a misdemeanor against one's person -- the victim may always arrest the suspect. Though there are criminal and civil penalties that result from a false arrest (ie: a private person's arrest for battery when no battery has taken place/attempted... a sworn arrest is not subject to such strict penalties), if someone does something so clear as the situation painted in this thread, you - as a victim and a private person - have the right to arrest your assailant, and you have the right (as a Disney/Universal parks employee) to have your security department help you in executing the arrest (having the security guards use their handcuffs... you have no handcuffs...). Remember, though, that security is never obligated to arrest someone and not even to help you (for their own liability's sake), but they would be required to help you out if 911 is on the way... the sworn officer would be obligated to arrest...

[CujoSR]

FYI - This thread started in 2006...

[BRWombat]

First and foremost, the differences between "assault" and "battery" are important to note. Too often alleged victims accuse their aggressor of "assault" when they really mean "battery."...

Correct under the classic definitions, and probably under CA and FL law. But note that some states, Texas included, use "assault" for both the threat of offensive contact and actual offensive contact.