Employees state of mind

[ericsu19]

I have recently had to demot one of my employees to a less roll in the company. A fellow workier called today and told me this.

Employee says to fellow worker I have spoke with my psychiatrist and asked if I was to kill someone could I get off with the medication I am on. The psychiatrist says if you have a good Lawyer.

I am concerned for the fellow workers and really thinking about taking this up with HR the fellow worker thinks he may just be talking out load, In this world today I am not sure this can go without getting HR involved.

Any advice would be greatfull

[bpet]

Yep. Talk with HR.

[WarHawk-AVG]

We had a guy get into an argument and say too much, he was escorted out of the building

He came back later with a pistol but (thank goodness) couldn't figure out how to get it to operate

The police were called, he was escorted off premises but later released, now we have a picture of his ugly mug stuck to the doors saying don't let him in

Unfortunaltely if someone makes a statement like that in this day and age, you can't just fluff it off as him joking

[flb_78]

I'd take it as a threat and get rid of him. He's asking some bad questions. Have him trespassed off the property.

[LedJedi]

I'd take it as a threat and get rid of him. He's asking some bad questions. Have him trespassed off the property.

+100

in this day and age it's not worth the risk of giving this guy too much slack. What happens if this guy actually makes good on what he's saying and those hurt or their families found out a member of the company was aware of the threat ahead of time?

[Excaliber]

I have recently had to demot one of my employees to a less roll in the company. A fellow workier called today and told me this.

Employee says to fellow worker I have spoke with my psychiatrist and asked if I was to kill someone could I get off with the medication I am on. The psychiatrist says if you have a good Lawyer.

I am concerned for the fellow workers and really thinking about taking this up with HR the fellow worker thinks he may just be talking out load, In this world today I am not sure this can go without getting HR involved.

Any advice would be greatfull

Based on the information given, I agree reporting it to HR is the right thing for you to do. The statement of the individual in question as worded in the post potentially falls into the category of the types of things some folks say when they're considering using violence. By itself it may or may not be significant, but it's the type of thing that an alert management team would most likely want to look at to see if there's something more going on or not. That role is best performed by the folks the company has assigned to this function.

Most well managed companies have a well thought out and documented threat assessment process that calls for a review of the situation by a team of knowledgeable specialists, including HR, operations, legal, medical, and security with law enforcement consultation as well if indicated. One of the first steps here, since the report is at least second hand, would normally be to interview the person the statement was allegedly made to in order to determine exactly what was said and what the context was. It's not unusual for this step to produce information that varies substantially from the initial report.

One other note: If a situation develops in a way that leads you to believe a serious threat to life of property is imminent, it's best to call 911 first and then follow up with internal notifications.

[KBCraig]

I'd take it as a threat and get rid of him. He's asking some bad questions. Have him trespassed off the property.

A Notice of Trespass, just like a restraining order, is notoriously ineffective at stopping bullets.

Rather than piling onto the guy's anxiety and anger, I'd call him in for a sit-down with HR. Make it a formal threat assessment meeting, but you don't have to tell him that. Try to suss him out, let him know you've heard rumors, and just want to make sure someone isn't making false accusations about him.

Be on his side.

At the very least, you'll have a much better chance to assess him first-hand and decide if he's a real threat. At best, you'll defuse the situation. Anywhere in between is better than just booting him out and trusting in a trespass warning.

[ericsu19]

Thanks for all the advice I new by posting here there would be grat imput. One thing I would like to add is the gentleman is bi-polar and is on the 12 step program for drug and alchol abuse. Sorry for not adding this earlier.

[lunchbox]

sounds like the therapist needs to be held accountable for what she said as well

[flb_78]

[Piney]

IMO, you should discuss this with your HR group so it will be doccumented that you were aware of the alledged comments and followed company processes to report a potential problem. Otherwise, its feasable that if an issue came up with this fellow, and it came out that you were aware of any alledged non-reported forewarning, you could be meeting with HR....and out the door....

As others have said-- unfortunatly, in these days and times.....