Employers face a myriad of legal and human resource issues in trying to prevent workplace violence and intervene in potentially dangerous situations. Workplace violence takes many forms. While the recent tragedies have received the lion's share of media attention, murder in the workplace is extremely rare. Far more common are situations involving verbal harassment or the threat of physical violence. When faced with a potentially violent situation, employers must listen to the complaining employee, carefully and quickly assess the situation and, most importantly, take affirmative action.
Employers are overly concerned about the threat of litigation for acting too quickly.
This threat exists but is minimal in comparison to the legal and moral risk of not acting in a timely manner. Assess the situation. It is advisable that an employer have a risk assessment team in place. The team typically consists of an HR employee, a member of management and outside counsel. Include the person's manager.