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¶ … employer was found guilty of a safety violation or financially liable for an incident of workplace violence and briefly summarize the case and explain why you agree to disagree with the outcome!
In the case of Lowe, et al. v. Old Navy, LLC, No. 10 L. 7624, Old Navy was sued by the surviving family members of an employee who was murdered by her boyfriend while working at the Old Navy store (Kreisman 2010). The family members alleged that Old Navy took inadequate steps to protect its employees and the boyfriend had identified himself as a threat the day before the murder took place. "The lawsuit also alleges that the store's security measures were outdated because the boyfriend was able to enter the store through a private employee entrance and then gain access to a restricted employee area, where he allegedly committed the murder-suicide" (Alaniz 2010). While Old Navy's security practices may not have been optimal, holding the store responsible is extremely problematic: even with the most stringent protocols, the murder could have taken place since the man could have entered the store as a customer. Also, the store cannot be held to be responsible for protecting employees from threats which arise from their personal life and identifying outside threats to their safety.
Q2. Locate the workplace violence policy from an organization of your choosing. Briefly summarize...
Is it legally defensible? Is it effective? Why or why not?
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill details the actions employees should take when confronted with outright violence as well as what they should do when confronted by workplace bullying. "The University has developed an Employee Threat Assessment and Response Team (ETART) that will assess and respond to immediate and potential acts of workplace violence" ("Violence in the workplace," 2015). Threats include "intimidation, bullying, stalking, threats, physical attack, property damage, or domestic and family violence" or threatening use of weapons ("Violence in the workplace," 2015). The majority of these prohibited actions would be crimes regardless of the context in which they took place ("Violence in the workplace," 2015). The only workplace-specific definition of a prohibited activity is bullying which is said to be "behavior [that] generally includes an element of vindictiveness, and is intended to undermine, patronize, humiliate, intimidate or demean the recipient" ("Violence in the workplace," 2015). This is the most subjective and also likely to be the most contentious aspect of the definition of violent behavior contained in the policy.
References
Beam, C. (2009). Uncivil union. Slate. Retrieved from:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2009/03/uncivil_union.html
California after the Uber ruling. (2015). The L.A. Times. Retrieved from:
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-uber-employees-20150624-story.html
http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Independent-Contractor-Self-Employed-or-Employee
Workplace violence (Bullying) Workplace violence can be defined as an action that manifests itself in threatening behavior, physical assault, aggression or any other violent form that may be displayed at work setting and may be directed towards coworkers, managers or even the customers themselves. These aggressions can cause emotional or to great extent physical harm or both (USLegal Inc., 2011). In the context of this paper, bullying as one of the aspects
Workplace Violence Violence in the workplace is an everyday event that affects employees throughout the nation. It must be addressed, clearly defined, and possible solutions presented that will eventually identify the potential aggressor and victim. According to the United States Department of Justice (1998) the workplace is the most dangerous place to be in America. In fact, workplace homicide is the fastest growing category of murder in the United States (U.S.
Workplace violence is a major threat to American companies, and costs billions of dollars each year is lost wages, health care, and legal fees. In light of current trends towards company downsizing and higher levels of job stress, these acts of violence are on the rise, and affect every employee and the entire community, as well. Since violence can come from any number of sources, including threats, actual physical violence,
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