Interesting Workplace Violence

Balloonman1

I found it interesting that while the thread about the theft everyone was preaching about get all the facts before you suspend or terminate, a number of you jumped on me for not terminating the employee who threw the punch.....without even talking to him.
My reasoning in having him come back to the office was to give me time to gather all pertinant information, talk to the person assaulted, any potential witnesses and make sure we were only firing one, not two employees.
I know it seemed pretty cut and dry, and it is from the standpoint that if you punch someone out at work, you are going to get fired. But I had to verify that the person who was hit did not initiated the physical confrontation..... if he had pushed him, shoved him to the ground, then the employee might have argued self defense. Not the case, but I felt I should get ALL sides to the story before terminating.
Besides, he was suspended and removed from the jobsite, fire him at 10:00 am or 3:00 pm, does not really change much now does it?
Also fired another long term problem employee yesterday afternoon..........long day yesterday, today will be much better!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My $0.02 worth,
DJ The Balloonman

pork1

BALOONMAN: I supported your actions and would have also suspended one if not both until I could sort out who saw what and what was first hand information. In our company policy, we do not authorize the hit employee to aggressively fight back. Mere defending by putting hands/arms up to ward off a punch is not fighting back, holding onto the "punch swing employee" to keep from getting hit is also not fighting back. I would have suspended and then terminated after all information is in and recorded. The hit ee would have been returned to work with paid time off to include additional time if it is warranted to get rid of bruises. The aggressive hitting employee would have been terminated for violation of company policy for fighting. About 4 years ago, I had one female employee call out another female employee and they got it on which lasted about 15 minutes in the parking lot. I have seen "Cats fight" and from what the investigation revealed both were suspended and then terminated. The site manager and one female supervisor were both given written warnings for allowing a violent workplace to develop over a period of three days before the final physical activities happened.

We defended our company action against a wrongful discharge in the ee who was "called out" and entered the physical act of fighting with another employee. The "calling out" employee went on about her life and later ended up stabbing a boyfriend and is now serving time in prison.

I did not have a Blessed week that week in HR, but I was comforted when we won the "wrongful discharge" case!

May we all have a Blessed day, "Sonny" and you guys and girls in Florida hold onto your desk for you are in our prayers. Tomorrow should be a brighter day!

PORK

sonny

Thanks Pork. We got thru, but I'd be lying if I said it was a bit un-nerving. Hope Scorpio and other check in. As I am sure you all know, it was not pretty in south Florida.

ScorpioHR

"Thanks Pork. We got thru, but I'd be lying if I said it was a bit un-nerving. Hope Scorpio and other check in. As I am sure you all know, it was not pretty in south Florida. "

Hi, here is Scorpio "checkin in"-Yes Sonny, it was ugly here- The winds topped at 140 miles an hour at 5pm on Friday on my block- I have lived in Florida 15 years and this was the worst I have seen. When people say the winds sound like a "freight train" they are not fibbing! Spent about 6 hours in the bathtub, was the most interior place to wait it out- Many thousands of people are still without power- Today was the 1st day we were back at work and getting here was no picnic-Lights all out or down and fools running thru them without looking! Still, I know it could have been worse so I am grateful for what is still standing-Have a great day everyone!
Scorpio

sonny

So glad to hear you are safe!

ritaanz

2 cents: My "Are you nuts?" question was because he was coming back into the building at 3 not because he wasn't terminated immediately. There are times when it is necessary to keep your employees (and yourself) out of harms way.

I guess I've seen too much hostility.

Balloonman1

Oh I wasn't to concerned about that in this case. Believe it or not I felt kinda bad letting him go. Was the first term who a) acknowledge he screwed up b) understood that the company had to do what it had to do c) even said he embarassed himself.
Don't all pile on me now, just saying usually the drill is a)its not my fault b) blame everyone else c) never accept responsibility.

Same day I let go another employee that I have wanted to see go away........... :-) I have had lots of positive feedback over that one, so far everybody has been happy that I finally cut him loose.
My $0.02 worth,
DJ The Balloonman

Don D

I didn't think anyone jumped on you. The concern I expressed was that in the early morning you announced that the employee would be coming back in at three o'clock so you could terminate him. In other words, you had already made that decision. Had you said you weren't sure what had really happened and needed until mid afternoon to conduct a thorough investigation and make a decision, that would be quite different from saying, in the morning, 'He's coming back in at three to be fired'. The other thing I found alarming was that you would have him return to the property. Had he popped somebody else, you could have been personally liable. But, I'm glad it worked out for you.