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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
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    Default Threats from Co-Worker

    My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: CA
    I already know what a lot of responces to this issue will be: "Toughen up! Just quit! or Get thicker skin!" To me, that does not solve the problem I am having. After a month of working for my present company, I was made night manager to the utter dismay of a co-worker who had been there for more than a year. After I was promoted, other employees would come to me to report problems with this person including verbal harassment, inapropate touching, and threats of violence. I reported to the owners of the company who laughed it off. They even went as far as to tell me that they had heard it before. Time went by, and after a few times of me trying to talk with him about job duties and dress code, his verbal assults turned my way. Again, I went to the owners and requested that something needed to be done, to witch I was told that he knows alot about the job and they were going to talk to him about how one should behave in the work place. One week later while I was on the job, he blows up at me shouting at the top of his lungs, threating to come back when I got done with my shift and fight me. I left the building, clocking out, to avoid the possible confrotation, calling the owners when I got home informing them of the situation. There stance now is that I abondoned my job.
    Am I wrong in thinking that it is the employers responsibility to provide a safe working inviroment?
    Aren't they liable for totaly diregaurding reports of a problem employee?
    What do I do now?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
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    Default Re: Threats from Co-Worker

    This is a legal site, so any advice/information you get is going to be of a legal nature.

    That said, there are no laws requiring employers to act upon the type of employee behaviours you've described here. In other words, you can report this to the owners as many times as you want and they will not be legally required to do anything about it. And you will not be legally allowed to sue them for refusing to take action. (And if you continue to report this to the owners, they may fire you for doing so - and this would be legal.)

    The only legal avenue I see here for you is in the area of the threats of violence. Your legal recourse for this would be to report this to the police.

    I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but it is an accurate legal response.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
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    2

    Default Re: Threats from Co-Worker

    Thank you for your quick responce. My concern then is I must be understanding this wrong:

    "Negligent hiring, supervision, and retention. The tort of negligent hiring is based on the principle that an employer has a duty to protect employees and customers from injuries caused by employees whom the employer knows or should know pose a risk of harm to others. An employer may be found to have breached this duty by hiring an unfit applicant when, for example, the employer neglected to contact the applicant's former employers or to check references, and such an investigation would have revealed that the applicant had a violent propensity or was otherwise unfit for the job.

    Courts may also recognize the theory of negligent supervision as a basis for an employer's liability, for example, when one employee alleges that the employer should have taken reasonable care in supervising a second employee who has threatened the first with violent conduct. Another theory of employer liability is "negligent retention." Where an employer does not realize an applicant's violent tendencies at the time of hiring, but later discovers that he or she is prone to violence yet still retains the employee, the employer may be liable under this theory for harm the employee causes to another. [Employers may have other obligations to employees under contractual theories for harm caused by workplace violence.]

    Obligations stemming from public policy. An employer is prohibited from discriminating or retaliating against employees who express concerns about unsafe working conditions, such as threats of violence in the workplace. In California, an employee who feels that he or she has been discriminated against or terminated for expressing such concerns or for refusing to work under hazardous conditions may bring a claim against the employer.

    Employers may also have some obligations stemming from statutory provisions. Under the California Corporate Criminal Liability Act, individual managers and corporations may be criminally liable for failing to disclose concealed hazards. The civil liabilities that a California employer may incur from failing to abide by some statutory duty or other legal obligation can be substantial. For example, an employer in California may be liable for punitive damages in a tort action for the conduct of an employee that is the result of malice, fraud, or oppression, if the employer had notice of the unfitness of the worker and employed him or her with a conscious disregard for the safety of others."

    Is that the case? Im I not reading this right?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
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    Default Re: Threats from Co-Worker

    If this employee had actually injured you after you complained to the owners, then you might have a case for negligent hiring on their part. I don't see that you've been physically harmed.

    As far as them saying you've abandoned your job, I recommend you contact the CA DLSE and see what they say. If you have a case, it would go through them.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Threats from Co-Worker

    Quote Quoting Mr.Bowler
    View Post
    other employees would come to me to report problems with this person including verbal harassment, inapropate touching, and threats of violence
    Inappropriate touching and threats of violence are potential CRIMES. As a manager, you should have instructed the employees in question to notify POLICE. They are the entities who deal with criminal offenses, such as assault (threats) and battery (inappropriate touching). If your managerial position didn't imbue you with the ability to take actions such as things like rescheduling, counseling, or other measures, then all you could do, other than refer wronged employees to law enforcement, is notify those higher ups in the chain of command. As ee already noted, from there any further liability is on them, IF any actual incident should occur.


    . I reported to the owners of the company who laughed it off. They even went as far as to tell me that they had heard it before.
    Unfortunately, that's often how things work when those who manage a company and its employees aren't actually IN the place where the problematic events are occurring.


    Time went by, and after a few times of me trying to talk with him about job duties and dress code, his verbal assults turned my way. Again, I went to the owners and requested that something needed to be done, to witch I was told that he knows alot about the job and they were going to talk to him about how one should behave in the work place.
    So they either valued his experience and abilities enough to cut him slack, or they weren't prepared to take action at that point. Nothing you or the other employees could do to force them.


    One week later while I was on the job, he blows up at me shouting at the top of his lungs, threating to come back when I got done with my shift and fight me. I left the building,
    So you've got an employee causing a scene, yelling and shouting, and making threats against you. Presumably your place of business has phones, and presumably those phones are capable of calling police. Just because you happen to be in a work place doesn't mean that your employer can or SHOULD be the ones to deal with every issue or problem. If the building is on fire, you don't call the employer, you call the fire department. When someone drops with a heart attack, nope, not the employer, you call for an ambulance. Same thing here. Disruptive and threatening actions, words, and behaviors need to be dealt with by POLICE.


    I left the building, clocking out, to avoid the possible confrotation, calling the owners when I got home informing them of the situation.
    No. YOU are the manager. That means YOU remain in control. That's part of the duty of a manager. If things escalated beyond your control, due to disruptive or threatening behavior, you call the police and have them take the problematic individual AWAY so that the business that you are supposed to be managing can continue as expected by your employer. Yes, the employer has some level of duty to a safe working environment, but YOU have the IMMEDIATE responsibility to seek APPROPRIATE intervention to situations where threats of violence or potential crimes are occurring. Your employer isn't the police, and discipline against employees occurs entirely at their leisure.


    There stance now is that I abondoned my job.
    As ee stated, this is something you'll have to battle via DLSE - choosing to clock out, leave, and allow the problematic employee to remain was your choice. Could also have left the property to a safer location, like across the street, or down to the corner, and notified police, and then resumed managerial control when the situation resolved and the problematic employee was either behaving properly or removed from the situation. Might have an uphill battle here.

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