Domestic problems that come to work

jgarrett · April 2001

I have a husband and wife that work with this company but in different areas. While they were off the company grounds but not at home, they got into a domestic dispute, guns were involved, lives threatened, etc. The husband is now in jail, the wife has taken a few days off. My question is 1.how can I protect the other employees here if the husband and wife are allowed to come back. 2.How can I protect this company against a lawsuit if I terminate these two employees. 3.How should this be handled to protect the company and the other employees? Thanks

Margaret Morford · April 2001

There are a lot of facts I'd need to know to help you, but here are a couple of courses of action I might suggest. First, do you have a "no weaphons on the premises" policy? If not, institute one right away. Some states require that this policy be posted prominently about your facility to be enforceable. Second, get some legal advice on your state's position on negligent retention. If Alabama courts have been holding employers responsible for retaining dangerous employees, ask your attorney about terminating these individuals. Be sure you know the facts about what happened to both of them. For instance, why is he in jail and she is not? Is he the only one who pulled a gun or did she as well? Also, what has been your policy in the past about terminating violent employees? If you decide not to terminate, at minimum, I would suggest that you send both employees a certified letter telling them that you are aware of this incident, that your company will do whatever is necessary to protect its employees and that if they engage in any conduct that you consider to be threatening to any other employee or to one another, they will be immediately terminated. There are many legal questions here that I believe you need some advice on. If I can help you with anything or you wish me to refer you to someone for advice, please don't hesitate to call me at 615-371-8200.

Gillian · April 2001

The advice in the previous reply is good. You should contact an attorney on this one. To answer your specific points it is necessary to start from the premise that the incidents did not occur at work and operate from the principal that, while it may vary from state to state, the employer has little direct control over stuff that happens off work. First, protecting other employees assumes that they will be in danger, which is unknown, but since their is a demonstration of violence you should look into your policies re. weapons at work and evaluate the negligence issue if you bring them back. Second, you can't protect your company from a lawsuit, you can only do your best to protect from losing one, and that comes from being careful how you address this issue. I don't remember the third and if I hit the back button this will have to be done all over again so I hope that I have helped.n

Theresa Gegen TX · April 2001

I agree with Margaret and Gillian, this is a case where you definately need to get legal advice before deterimining a course of action. I have had a client sued for wrongful termination when a wife was accosted by her husband at work and both were terminated. The wife sued saying "I was in my work area minding my own business, he came over and attacked me, the supervisor saw him and didn't tell him to leave, and the company fired me when I didn't do anything wrong." She alleged that others who were innocently attacked at work were not fired and she was. She also claimed the company was negligent because it did not protect her from her husband, when it knew she was a battered spouse. It was a difficult case to handle.

Good Luck!

woe · April 2001

We trained 50% of our department (before running out of $) in "When Domestic Violence Comes to Work" The training was developed and delivered by our Police Department. If anyone is interested, I can check and see if any of the material is on the Police website and can share it here.

jgarrett · April 2001

WOE, yes I would like any info you have on taining our employees.
How large is your police dept. We have a small dept here.
Thanks for your help. jgarrett

smarti · April 2001

We also called our local police & sheriff for help and training for violence in the workplace. Many of the law enforcement agencies have teams willing to come out and look at facilities, talk with employees and speak with management. We also putchased the "Danger Zones for Supervisors" and one of the courses is in Violence. However, all of the training aspects mean nothing unless management is willing to work with the people to actually take warning signs seriously, and report the red flags. Good luck, it sure is a serious problem in todays society.

L Frink · April 2001

Would love any info you could pass along. [email]lfrink@kellerrohrback.com[/email]. tx so much.

Domestic problems that come to work

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