An Act of Violence is a physical injury to an employee resulting from an intentional, violent assault that occurred during the performance of assigned duties.

The injury must be physical in nature and the assailant must have intended to do physical harm. Injuries caused by very young, or mentally/emotionally challenged students are not considered intentional if the action causing harm is typical of the age or disability of the student. Injuries resulting from misconduct of students are not covered unless there was an actual intent to cause physical harm to the employee. Accidental harm will not be considered even if due to gross misconduct.

A physical injury caused by an assault with intent to harm will be considered an Act of Violence regardless of who the assailant is. The assailant could be a student, co-worker, parent or unknown/unwelcome intruder.See the Act of Violence Policy Bulletin 5047.1 for further information – BUL-5047.1

The Education Code provides District Employees with full salary in lieu of Workers’ Compensation Temporary Disability benefits for the first 60 working days off work. If an industrial injury is determined to be an Act of Violence, that 60 day period of full salary will be extended. The length of the extension varies by Bargaining Agreement. Specifics for each Union Contract is located here: Union Contract AOV language

-The injured employee must be a member of a bargaining unit which has Act of Violence language in its Collective Bargaining Agreement.
-The injury must be accepted as an industrial injury by the Workers’ Compensation Third Party Administrator (TPA), Sedgwick.
-The injury must be designated as an Act of Violence by the Integrated Disability Management Branch of the Division of Risk Management & Insurance Services.
-Temporary Disability benefits must be authorized by the TPA. Under no circumstances will Act of Violence benefits extend beyond the last day for which Workers’ Compensation Temporary Disability benefits are authorized.

Eligibility is determined by the specific Bargaining Agreement. Currently UTLA; Unit A; Unit B; Unit C; Unit D; Unit E; Unit F; and Unit G include Act of Violence language in their Collective Bargaining Agreements. Copies of the Bargaining Agreements can be accessed through the Staff Relations website.