Connecticut employers have a legal responsibility to maintain a safe workplace environment for employees and labor attorneys and security experts agree companies need to do more to meet that obligation.
They suggest making background checks more rigorous, rewriting procedures to allow for random locker and desk searches and conducting site security audits, but stop short of suggesting widespread use of metal detectors.
“Employers could certainly install metal detectors, but I don’t think we’re there yet,” said Alice De Tora, a labor and employment attorney at the Hartford law office of Robinson & Cole. “People want reassurance they work in a safe place and I’m not sure the presence of a detector would give them that feeling.”
Days after a fired warehouse driver killed eight co-workers and himself at Hartford Distributors Inc. in Manchester, security experts and employment attorneys say their phones have been jammed with employers rethinking their workplace safety policies.
Margaret Strange, a labor and employment attorney and partner in the Hartford office of Jackson Lewis LLP, is spending more of her time lately advising clients about workplace safety policies and procedures for dealing with discrimination and harassment.
“We’ve had several employers call this past week and ask about specific situations in their company,” said Strange. “Some are assessing their workplaces in light of what’s happened and they want to make sure they are handling everything within their organization correctly.”
Strange said she is advising her clients in Connecticut to make sure company handbooks include information about the employer’s right to conduct locker, bag and desk searches.
But the best place to head-off potential problems may be in listening more closely to employees and becoming more observant of changes in behavior.
“Generally, people who act out violently in the workplace are at their breaking point,” said De Tora. “They usually feel like no one is listening to them.”
Employers are not the only ones speaking out in the days following the Manchester shooting, said De Tora. One of her clients — a large company in Connecticut she declined to name for confidentiality reasons — called her last week for advice about a worker who complained about being harassed for years.
“The company is actively looking into this right now and conducting an investigation,” she said. “This worker has plenty of evidence that confirms their story about being harassed for years. The company is also looking into its policies and making sure employees understand how to report these cases in the future.”
De Tora said the victim was motivated to speak out after hearing the news about Hartford Distributors, Inc.
Workplace violence accounts for an average of 63 deaths in the U.S. each year, according to a federal report published in July; at the same time, studies show that calls to employee assistance programs rose 30 percent with a majority of the calls coming from upset workers with financial concerns.
There were 30 multiple-fatality workplace homicide incidents in 2008, the most recent year figures are available, accounting for 67 deaths and seven suicides, according to a report on workplace shootings published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in July.
Violence is the second leading cause of workplace deaths in the U.S. and costs businesses $36 billion per year, the Labor Dept. data shows.
Only 1 percent of U.S. employers have a formal anti-violence policy in place and OSHA has no formal standard on workplace violence, but the agency can issue citations under the General Duty Clause, according to Brad Hammock, a labor and employment attorney for Jackson Lewis.
Employers are liable for workplace violence if they are aware of a potential problem or receive a complaint and fail to respond until after a worker commits an assault.
Even if no one files a formal complaint, employers could still be found liable if violence occurs and they suspected an issue or hazard was likely and failed to intervene, experts say. Company officials are also liable if they willingly ignored obvious security concerns.
In addition to negligent hiring, companies are also liable for negligent retention, said Terri Solomon, a labor and employment attorney with Littler Mendelson.
Negligent cases involve employers who hire a worker they learn later is unfit, poses a hazard to the workplace or does something that causes injury or death, explains Solomon.
To reduce risk of lawsuits, employers should have a strong policy statement that reminds everyone about the company’s zero-tolerance position on workplace violence, said Solomon.
“Employers need to give workers a way to communicate their concerns without fear of retaliation,” said Solomon. “And they need to take all complaints and threats seriously when employees report them.”
One of the challenges to workplace violence is that most managers are not trained to recognize the warning signs or know what causes people to act violent, according to security experts.
People engage in violent behavior because they feel mistreated or harassed by co-workers, passed over for a promised promotion or raise or humiliated and made fun of in front of other people.
Examples of warning signs include throwing objects, yelling, slamming doors, kicking furniture, getting upset or angry easily, destroying property or equipment. They might also lash out verbally and say things like, “you will be sorry,” “you won’t get away with this,” or “I’m going to get you.”
Other warning signs include employees who gossip, argue, sexually harass workers, swear and use profanity, bully co-workers and write hateful or negative e-mails or letters.
“We have to recognize that while there are ways to reduce the risks of a workplace being affected by violence, there is no real way to prevent it entirely,” said Dan Schwartz, a labor and employment attorney at Pullman Comley in Hartford.
“Employers should certainly train staff on how to spot the signs of a situation possibly getting worse or employees who seem to be acting unusually,” he said.
Schwartz said employers should recognize the warning signs, provide employee assistance programs and establish an open-door policy.
“Ultimately, without being overly paranoid, employers may want to encourage employees to use a New York City Motto: If you see something, say something,” said Schwartz.
