What if you’re scared? Tip of the Week

Have you ever been scared of an employee?  Have your employees ever come to you expressing their fear of a co-worker?

I suspect the answer to both questions is yes.  Sometimes, the fear builds up over a period of time.  An employee makes threats, and no one reports them.  The threats continue.  More people become afraid.

Sometimes, the employee is a bully.  He pushes and shoves.  He looks at you in a way that makes your knees buckle.  He may also make threats.

Sometimes, an employee goes through some type of difficulty in his life that results in what seems to be a personality change.  And he’s now a scary person.  He talks about fighting and shooting and killing.  He expresses violent fantasies.

What do you do?  You could encourage other employees to stay out of his way, leave well enough alone, don’t rock the boat, or come back to you if things get too bad. None of that is what you should do.

While it will depend on the exact circumstances and your seasoned judgment, discipline is probably not an option.  It will only make the situation worse.  More than likely, the only option is discharge.  That doesn’t mean you don’t thoroughly investigate the matter to inform your judgment and feel certain that you have your ducks a row.  (Instead of discharge, a suspension may be necessary to give you adequate time to do your investigation.) It doesn’t mean that you don’t talk to the employee, but most probably, you’re going to talk to him at the same time you suspend or fire him.  It’s possible that he could say something that would change your mind, but if you’ve done enough of an investigation to convince you that the employee is a ticking time bomb, a change of mind isn’t going to occur. 

You don’t do it by yourself.  If you have security, you have someone standing by or perhaps with you when the firing or suspension occurs.  If you don’t have security, you get some on a temporary basis.  If the threats are extreme or if the employee’s action toward others is scary enough, you may need to have law enforcement standing by on the premises.  You do whatever you have to do to make as sure as you can that violence of any kind doesn’t occur.  You get the employee off the premises.  Hopefully, you can do this without causing a commotion.  Get some legal advice and perhaps some advice from a psychologist before you fire or suspend the employee in an effort to do it as well as you can.  But you must do it as quickly as it needs to be done.

Might you get sued?  Yep.  You made a mountain out of a mole hill.  It was just a big misunderstanding.  You humiliated the employee.  You’re guilty of outrageous conduct or the intentional infliction of emotional distress.  You violated the employee’s rights under the American with Disabilities Act, because the employee’s words and actions were the result of a mental disability.

This is a situation where you weigh competing liabilities.  What is said in the preceding paragraph may happen.  You weigh that against the violence you’re concerned about.  You’ve investigated the matter.  You’re convinced that the employee poses a significant enough threat that action must be taken.  You’re concerned about your employees’ safety.  And that’s what carries the day.  It’s a fairly easy call.  You may be wrong, but you’d rather be wrong that way than the other (you allow the employee to stay and his violent potential becomes reality).

A couple of other considerations.  You need to make sure that security remains adequate for a reasonable period of time.  The fired or suspended employee could try to return.  You can’t let that happen.  If the employee’s threats have been directed toward a particular supervisor or co-worker, you need to make sure that he/she is reasonably protected while walking to his/her car.  You need to be alert for any signs that the employee is making new threats or trying to cause harm.  You can’t ensure absolute protection or safety, but you have to do as much as you reasonably can to keep your workplace safe and your employees free from violence and fear.