Threat from a Co-Worker After an Argument

My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: Wisconsin, The following situation happened to two employees while at work working for the same company . On the same work location . One employee was constantly listening to verbal harassment of a verbal nature , sexual references to the other employee accusations of homosexuality and inability to perform in a public surrounding , really Loud and crude stuf . Finally when pushed to extremes by this individual , he shouted at the top of his lungs to the individual that was herasing him . " if you don't check your attitude I'm going to call the EEOC and and have them make Management walk you out that door for good " the other individual quietly leaned in across the table and stated " you know accidents can happen to people" . Since that day some time has passed and the individual who I think had his life threatened is still alive . Was it against the law to threaten him ? This post literally comes years later because now just recently the same Jerk has allegedly threatened someone else , The third party got a restraining order granted for 4 years and forced him in a court of law to turn in any fire arms. I don't know the whole story there but it is being appealed ,( hearing de novo) . If the person who got threatened a long time ago came forward , perhaps with some sort of affidavit or something signed by a notary would that improve the chances of justice prevailing now. The bully who threatens people is making the work place tense . You could walk in there drop a book and il bet half of us would jump under our desks. I'm thinking about quitting just for safety sake. The management consensus is that there are too many employees and that taking no action is easier then declaring a surplus and having layoffs.

I'm going to simplify this as much as I can :)

What happened years ago doesn't matter right now. Notarizing a statement doesn't carry any weight in this context, either.

What does matter is that you contact your HR if you genuinely feel that a fellow employee is a threat.

I am speaking in the context of employment law only. There are other forms of law that are not employment law; I am not addressing any of them.

It doesn't matter whether it violated the law or not (and it did not violate employment law). EVEN IF IT DID, there are no circumstances whatsoever under which the employer is required to fire someone. The employee who threatened to "call the EEOC and have them make management walk you out the door for good" had no power to follow through. He could call the EEOC, sure, but he couldn't tell the EEOC what action to take and the EEOC had no power to force management to fire the offending employee. They could, conceivably have fined the employer but they CANNOT force the employer to fire him. What action the employer does or does not take, both then and now, is entirely up to the employer.

Then and now, the employer's legal obligation is to make any illegal behavior stop. If they do so, they have met their obligation under the law whether they fire the offender or not.

I do think he is, I suspect that this is about to become tragedy that makes the news across the nation. I have a sense for these things and he isn't stable . Don't want to be a whistle blower but won't be able to cope with it if something bad happens and I didn't say anything that might have prevented it . I'm not in a situation to know for sure what this persons capable but I've not been wrong often when assessing someone's mental stability. They will be both back at work soon so I've got 2 days to figure out a solution hopefully one that doesn't allow our resident bully to get any angryer.

You have two choices:

1.) You can report the threats
2.) You can not report the threats.

In neither case is the employer required by law to fire him. It is 100% up to the employer what, if any, action they take. Keep in mind that HR has access to resources that you may not be aware of.They are also not only not required to, but depending on circumstances may be prohibited from, telling you what action they are taking. In any case, you can either report it or not. There is no third option.

I agree with cbg and add, this "threat" is a bit ambiguous. Accidents do happen. Carefully worded threats are just that, carefully worded. Anyone, without a lot more, who suffers from such a statement would be an outlier on the statistical map. While being there can make a big difference, removing it from the situation and having lawyers ask about things in a sterile environment can make things look a whole lot different.