Options concerning Workplace Assault

In My Humble Opinion
1

My wife was physically assaulted by a co-worker today. No obvious injuries, but he put his hand on her throat and pushed her, prevented her from using the phone, and chest butted (if that is the proper term) her. When he learned that the police were on their way, he left, after shouting “If I go to jail, I’ll find you”.

Apparently, the police said that the degree of assault didn’t necessarily mean a trip to jail, but they will be contacting her employer to discuss.

I’m asking what steps should she take if her employers don’t fire this guy. There’s been nothing that would lead me to think that they won’t (this happened about 5 hours ago), but if they keep him on, what should my wife do?

This is in Washington state, by the way.

2

IANAL but she should be sure to notify her supervisor and the company’s personnel office in writing as soon as possible and keep copies. She should just report the incident as it happened - she shouldn’t make any suggestions for how the company should respond or suggest the company might not respond correctly.

If in her opinion, the company doesn’t respond adequately, she can consider further action. She’ll want to talk to a lawyer if that becomes necessary and find out whether this constitutes a hostile work environment.

3

I’m in H/R and that would never and never should be tolerated. That in my company would be a level 1 write up, which means immediate dismissal.

I recommend reporting it to H/R and your manager. Keep a copy of the police report and have a copy located in your H/R file.

H/R will not discuss specifics with you. If for some odd reason he isn’t let go you need to start out calmly.

Though it’s unnerving, you always get more accomplished faster with reason. Go to H/R and say that you are no longer comfortable and you feel the mere presense of someone who physically assaulted you is creating a hostile working environment for you.

Then go from there, keeping records. Emails are great for this. If H/R wants to talk, after each talk, make sure you email your H/R director and first (direct report) manager, with a brief summary of the H/R conversation.

Then if nothing is done, consult an attorney specializing in such cases.

The big question is, were there witnesses? If it becomes a thing of my word against his, you wind up going from immediate fire to write up. This would be unacceptable to me as an employee, but as an H/R manager, I would need time to assess the situation.

For instance if two exceptional employees were involved and neither gave any past indication of violence and there were no witnesses, I would, as an H/R manager be hard pressed to fire someone on the say so of another.

My advice is see what H/R says and does, then retain a lawyer. DO NOT tell H/R you are doing this till AFTER you have seen an attorney and see what he says.

Then if the outcomes is not acceptable have your wife say, “I’m not comfortable with the outcome. Therefore I decided to get an attorney, and from this point on, I’ll have him give you a call and you can address all questions through him.”

And then leave. H/R will probably not like this, I hate dealing with attorneys, but that is part of the job.

The key is once you get the attorney, you have to stick with your guns and follow through with him. Don’t do the, off and on stuff. If you don’t like the outcome, get the lawyer and let him handle it

4

It’s not mentioned at all so far, but why did the co-worker try to stop your wife from using the phone? And then after that how did it come about that he had to opportunity to “chest butt” her to keep her away?

He randonmly did it out of the blue, or is there some sort of history to this?

5

An attorney can also tell you whether the company can let her go; after all, some states are “at will” employers. As long as they don’t violate discrimination or whistleblower laws, they are better off getting rid of someone who can take an adversarial stand against them, You get their favourite employee in trouble, no matter how right you are - well, oddly enough, sometimes management isn’t logical and fair.

Some states do have the “harrassment free workplace” type of legislation. Most don’t.

Unless the guy has a record, odds are he’ll get a slap on the wrist and a fine, not jail for a "minor altercation"that basically boils down to “he said she said”. (and if you’re lucky, a restaining order - however that would work if he stays employed) Of course, it may be up to a year before it gets settled, knowing how fast the justice system works. If you are really lucky, he told someone else what he did and that person can say so on the stand.

6

Talk to a lawyer, right now.

7

And bear in mind that battery (which is what seems to have happened here) is not just a criminal charge; it can be a civil cause of action as well. That is, you can sue someone for the tort of battery.

But even not knowing the whole story, I see several other torts by the man, including false imprisonment (preventing her from using a phone) and assault (threatening to “find” her).

There are obviously several issues here involving employment law, tort, and criminal law. I am not your lawyer. Talk to a lawyer in your jurisdiction. The sooner the better.

8

Obviously, the specific claims depend on state law, but in tort class I learned that the common law tort of assault is an attempted battery (an unwanted touch), not just a threat.

9

I would think she could get a temporary restraining order at the very least.

And then he couldn’t come to work whether they fired him or not.

10

Your wife needs a lawyer today; don’t wait until the company does or doesn’t do the right thing. As noted, she may have civil claims against the employee (and perhaps even the employer) already regardless of what happens tomorrow. At the same time, depending on the professionalism of the HR department, the mere fact that they know she’s represented might nudge them into taking the correct action because they know she’s not going to just roll over.

BeaMyra offers a good perspective from the standpoint of the HR department, but understand that HR’s function is to protect the employer, not your wife. When their interests conflict (as they very well might), HR isn’t there for you, it’s there for the boss. I do agree that you shouldn’t threaten HR with the fact that you’re getting a lawyer, just get one and let him adivse you on what communications you need to have with HR and whether they should come from your wife on appear on his letterhead.

I’m sorry such a thing happened.

–Cliffy

11

Since this involves a specific legal matter, it’s better handled in IMHO than in GQ.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator

12

Sounds like that was 4th degree assault and/or harassment. Both are offenses in which the perp can be arrested.

The cops didn’t do their jobs. Did she fill out a police report? Go do one. Now. It’s not too late.

13

Ok, the guy is on ‘administrative leave’. My OP was based on what I would call weak management, based on other, non-related situations. Her supervisor was called, and arrived before the police did, but the supervisor didn’t tell my wife that the guy was fired. And because the supervisor didn’t, it gives me a feeling that there might be a chance that he won’t be.

My wife works in the kitchen of a retirement community, and lately has been criticizing her two co-workers half-assed job of cleaning, etc. Her immediate supervisor doesn’t do an adequate job of supervising (hence the weak management), but decided to have a meeting with all parties. Which was to be today. I believe that this guy was getting worried about this meeting, and went off on my wife. He was going up to other staff with “That bitch etc. etc.” and just being an ass.

Finally he worked himself into a sufficient tizzy to grab my wife by the throat, and push her. My wife told him that was assault, and went to use the kitchen’s phone to call a supervisor. He followed her and grabbed the phone from her. She left the kitchen, to use the phone at the front desk. He follows her there and starts chest butting her. This part had witnesses.

I’m encouraging her to get a restraining order against him, because he seems uh…not right…I don’t know if he is going to get vengeful.

Thanks for the advice. I’m suggesting to her to contact a lawyer so she can pursue that option if, and hopefully not, it is needed.

14

Missed the edit time window.

My wife filled out a police report, and the responding officer felt there wasn’t cause enough to arrest him.

The guy in question isn’t popular among his co-workers or the residents, and he is a craptastic cook. I don’t know if he is a favorite of management.

15

Intolt: Did the witnesses contribute to the report? Also, it’s possible he’s on admin leave because they have a process before he can be fired.

I saw a teacher assault a student and it took them 8 days to fire him. :o

16

That’s the crime of assault. The tort of assault is intentionally placing the plaintiff in fear of immediate physical harm or offensive touching. So whether it is made out here probably would depend on the wording of the threat, and whether the threatened harm was “immediate.”

State laws, like your mileage, may vary, and I’m not your lawyer, etc.

17

It sounds like your wife is doing good so far.

From an H/R standpoint, they are doing their business. They put him on leave pending investigation. If they fire him or he quits, it pretty much will end the company’s involvement.

At this point, I wouldn’t get an attorney. It’s too soon. But remember just because this guy is gone, doesn’t mean your wife is necessarily free.

I’ve fired people and got a lot of threats made to me. I’ve never have had anyone follow through on them, but it happens. I often wonder what would happen if someone did. So your wife may still need a RO. I would recommend her taking alternate routes home from work and such, just in case someone tries to find out where she lives.

This is probably a bit much, but it won’t hurt anything to be careful

H/R won’t tell you what happened to the guy. Privacy is a concern even for the guilty. But they will tell you if he is gone. Whether he was fired or quit, they probably won’t say.

I hope your wife also learned in the future form this. I am not saying she is in anyway to blame. But if she can think about what might have caused this behavior toward her, it could prevent it in the future.

I am not saying she was at all at fault, we all have a right to be secure in our workplace. But you have to look at it as if you got pick-pocketed. It’s not your fault, but what could you do different so you don’t get pick-pocketed again.

As I always say, have your wife start updating her resume. Even if he is fired, she may want to leave. Sometimes when you have an experience like this, it’s best to put yourself away from the situation.

Hope it works out to your wife’s satisfaction