A disability support worker is suing her former employer after her thumb was bitten off during a violent prolonged assault by a client.

Jamie Reardon said she suffered 17 bite wounds, fractured her foot, had her hair ripped out and tip of her left thumb bitten off after being set upon by an intellectually disabled teen at an independent living facility in Warragul in March 2022.

The mother-of-one claimed the attack lasted 30 minutes, with a co-worker too afraid to intervene.

Ms Reardon, unable to return to work since the attack, is suing her former employer, Oncall, for pain and suffering and loss of earnings due to her physical and mental injuries.

Her lawyer, Travis Fewster of Arnold Thomas & Becker, said Ms Reardon’s “employer had no system or protocol in place to prevent such attacks from happening; or, if they did, to ensure there are safe processes to restrain the person and safely get away”.

“While she must live with the permanent physical and psychological injuries forever, we hope that by pursuing legal action we can provide Jamie with a sense of closure and make sure no one else has to go through a similar experience,” Mr Fewster said.