Threatened Employee

MB1004

Two employees get in an altercation. One physically threatens the other and the threatened employee is scared and concerned about his safety. The manager appears to have resolved the issue. But now I hear from the threatened employee-he left work at lunch, filed a police report and is quitting (unless we transfer him) b/c he says he's forced to work in a hostile work environment since he requested a transfer and the manager denied it. The manager says the employee did not request a transer. The employee never came and talked to me (HR) about the situation, this is the first I've heard of his version. So now what do you do? Allow the transfer? Or deny it b/c he walked off the job in the middle of the day and is giving us an ultimatium? We won't really face any legal ramifications if we let him quit-just unemployment. But are we doing right by the employee if we don't allow the transfer? Or are we allowing employees to push us around, walk off the job site and force our hand?

Any opinions would be appreciated.

Don D

Signs of things to come. Let him quit. If you must communicate with him, tell him he will not be transferred. Good riddance. Notwithstanding all the guidance you might get to enter them into counseling and performance improvement plans, let this guy quit. Accommodating him will NOT contibute to the bottom line of your company. Ask him where he wants his check mailed.

System

I'm curious to know what the manager did that appeared to have resolved the issue.

MB1004

S Moll-The manager sat down with each employee on their own and let them tell their side. The she interviewed several other employees who were in the same department to see if any of them had heard what had happened between the two other employees. She then sat them down together and they talked out the issue and both left the meeting in peace and had worked out the root cause. But obviously that wasn't the employees true feelings.

amwkim

What about the employee that did the threatening? That is the one I am concerned about.

mrbill

The employee who went to the Police; Long term employee ? What is his track record ? He might be setting you up. If he has creditable time with the Company, and has a clean track record, I might attempt to talk it out in HR. Otherwise, accept his decision to quit. However, before you accept his resignation, I would seek legal counsel.

Crout

How would the employer talking to a lawyer change the employee’s decision to quit? I think the employee has a right to quit if he wants to. The thing I would do additionally is write up a time line while it's still fresh in everyone's memory clearly detailing the sequence of events, the manager's attempts to resolve the conflict, and the reactions of the employees involved. I agree that you'll be better off without this guy.

HRinNH

Was the threatening employee disciplined in any way? Sounds like all that happened was he was allowed to tell his side of the story. Did he get written up for causing a hostile work environment?

mwild31

"So now what do you do? Allow the transfer? Or deny it b/c he walked off the job in the middle of the day and is giving us an ultimatium? We won't really face any legal ramifications if we let him quit-just unemployment. But are we doing right by the employee if we don't allow the transfer? Or are we allowing employees to push us around, walk off the job site and force our hand?"

I guess my question is this: What would be the harm to the company, financial or otherwise to allow the transfer? Don't focus on the fellow walking off the job and the ego part of looking at this as the fellow is pushing you around - focus on the answering the question about the transfer objectively. Resolution to something, especially if someone was threatened does not always get tidied up with just a meeting. Let me just say though that I'm not saying that you can't just let this guy quit - but ask yourself what would be the harm to the transfer? If it's too much of a hardship, then let him quit, but if it's not then let him transfer & write him up for walking off the job & let him know he has to follow procedures. I hope that the person who did the threatening was written up & not just scolded in a meeting - violence (threatened or perceived) is never the answer to figuring out problems in the workplace. JMO.

MB1004

Well- we decided to let him do the transfer. Of course we could have just let him quit which is what he was going to do if we didn't transfer him, but he has a good track record. He's not our best employee, but he's never been in trouble and he's quite young. I have to try and remember how I would have felt at 20 if someone had threatened me and I didn't feel safe even after the situation was supposedly resolved.

I agree-I don't feel the manager handled this well and me being brought in AFTER everything was finished is a seperate issue. We're going to sit down with him Monday when he comes back and get everything written up and straightened out, so he knows where he stands coming in.

On the issue with the other employee who threatened him. How do you deal with a situation where he adamantly denies saying anything and there ended up being no witness? I haven't dealt with this one yet as we've been pretty busy with the other side. But when it comes to a he said/he said issue-do you still write him up?

mwild31

:-? How is it that the employee who did the threatening is adamantly denying he did anything and yet the manager felt the situation was big enough that she pulled the two together to talk about it and went further by interviewing other employees? It seems to me that something happened here & it disrupted the business. So much so, that the company has decided to transfer the one individual that felt threatened.

Is this the first time the ee has been accused of threatening someone? Is it the first time this ee has ever been questioned or spoken to regarding the tone of their speech with someone or how they handle work stress or difficulties with the job? If it’s the first time, well then that’s really a tough break, but if it’s not then if it walks like a duck…The big picture here is this (and this is just based on what you posted, so you’re going to have to analyze it further to reach your own decision) you had two individuals get involved in a dispute at work. This dispute was so poorly communicated between the two of them that it resulted in an undue disruption of the business at hand, accusations of threats and the need to transfer an employee out of the department/shift. Both involved should be written up for disrupting the business and not elevating the situation to the manager when things got personal. Poor decision making skills are at play here & you should let these folks know that disruptions to getting the product out the door or the customer satisfied are not acceptable. Don’t know if the write up will fly in a union shop or not, but in a private shop it would. Bottom line, you have to evaluate the best course of action given all of the information you know. Good luck x:-)

MB1004

mwild31-
Thanks for your reply. Sometimes it takes someone to just step out of the situation or an uninvolved person to bring light to an idea that should have clearly been the option. Earlier today I was more or less thinking along the lines of how would we get away with writing someone up for saying something that they adamantly deny. I should have been looking along the lines of writing him up for the situation, etc. and not just exactly what was said. This is actually where I'm at now and was glad to see your post in that someone confirmed the conclusion I had come to.

The situation isn't out of character for him, but it will be the first time it's really gone this far. I feel comfortable with with what we're doing and I appreciate all the posts today!

mwild31

Awesome! Happy to help. One last thing, you may want to review your policies on Violence in the Workplace. In ours, it talks about how even threatening violence is prohibited. During the write-up meeting I would provide the fellow with a copy of your policy if it says something similar. I would probably say something to the effect of, "John, I know you dispute the accusation of threatening violence against another employee. At this time, just as there are no witnesses to support the other ee's accusation, there are also no witnesses to support your denial of a threat. As this is the case, I would like to provide you with a copy of our Violence in the Workplace policy and ask for you to read it and see me if you have any further questions. I will make a note in your personnel file that I provided you with a copy." Good luck!

marc

You will be lucky if the story ends with the simple filing of an unumployment claim, as you have described. I can be accurately accused of being cynical and paranoid - so here is what I think happens next.

You say he has filed a police report. That will bolster his arguement that he felt/feels threatened at your work. Despite all the intervention done by your supervisor, the ex-EE will next contact a hungry local lawyer and together they will determine the best way to get a check from your company.

What actions have you taken with respect to disciplining the EE that did the threatening? Perhaps the other guy deserved it, but I would build a file at a minimum and be ready for a legal fight.