Preventing workplace violence makes sense for many reasons. You could have an employee assistance program to help overwhelmed employees cope with trauma. You should fire violent employees before they seriously harm anyone. Increased security could limit dangers posed by outside threats. Doing the right things may prevent injuries and lawsuits, too as a business litigation lawyer can attest.
Workplace violence prevention programs might protect an organization from legal action by staff or others if workplace violence takes place. These policies are necessary if workers express concerns about their safety, according to the Society for Human Resources Management.
If you get this feedback from workers, you do nothing, and someone’s injured due to workplace violence, there’s a good chance legal action may arise. A workplace injury can also result in a worker’s compensation claim. If someone is killed at your workplace, their next of kin may sue you in a wrongful death action.
What Employers Can Do
Extensive background checks on new hires may screen out a job candidate convicted of a violent crime or sued in civil court due to violence. You could also require applicants to list all prior employers within a given time frame and at least try to contact them.
Though ex-employers are often reluctant to say something bad about a former employee, have a policy preventing it, or be contractually obligated not to disclose negative information, that shouldn’t stop you from asking. You may learn the person had a history of violence where they worked in the past.
You shouldn’t tolerate harassment, intimidation, or violence by a customer, client, or contractor of an employee or another customer, client, or contractor as our friends at Focus Law LA would advise. If you look the other way because you need their business or have a personal relationship with the person, you’re asking for trouble, including legal action, if they harm someone while on your premises or conducting work with you.
While an injured employee may be unable to sue you (because of workers’ compensation laws), a non-employee injured due to your negligence won’t have that limitation. If workplace violence causes an injury, the fact you actively tried to prevent it from happening may be an effective defense to a personal injury claim against you.
If you do nothing to address complaints, you risk losing the employee or customer complaining. They may also feel backed into a corner and preemptively engage in violence against the person before they are victimized again.
The person committing the violence or making threats at your workplace may be an employee’s estranged spouse or partner. Domestic violence often plays out in the workplace. If an employee escapes a violent household, they may try to live in hiding. But if they need a job, their abuser may know when and where they work and confront them at their workplace. One way to prevent domestic violence at your business is to allow employees to work from home. While this may only work for some, you should consider it if feasible.
Depending on the jurisdiction, the employer may obtain a court order that the person not go near or on their premises. The abuse victim should be able to get a protection from abuse order. These orders are not a physical barrier preventing the person from going somewhere. However, they increase the costs, including potential jail time for violating the order.
An Ounce Of Violence Prevention May Be Worth A Pound Of Cure
Ideally, you live a happy, healthy life where violence is not a concern. But that may not be true of your employees or those living near your business. Violence prevention requires proactive steps to avoid dealing with it and the legal consequences that may follow.
Talk to your attorney if you have questions about workplace violence and your potential liability.