Did “Sick” Work Environment Cause Missouri Job Shooting?

There’s still no definitive answer as to why Timothy G. Hendron arrived at ABB Inc. in St. Louis on Thursday, Jan 7, armed with hundreds of bullets and an assault rifle, two handguns and a shotgun. He popped off more than 100 rounds at about 6:30 a.m. CT at the Swiss-owned St. Louis transformer manufacturing company, killing at least three coworkers and injuring five others before shooting himself.

Clearly, there are numerous things that can push an employee toward an act of violence. Although individuals cannot be absolved from blame for violence, in some cases it is the organization itself that is “sick” enough to trigger workplace violence. In a “normal environment” individuals may express their stress or vent their negative feelings in a more-or-less acceptable manner.  But in a “sick environment,” especially if the organization does not acknowledge and change its climate, the hostility continues to build. Eventually, the Violence Volcano can be expected to erupt in the form of more extreme violent behavior, such as death or other irreparable damage.

There is a possibility that this is what happened at ABB Inc. Reportedly, Hendron and a few other ABB employees had been dissatisfied with actions regarding the company’s retirement plan. They had filed a lawsuit in 2006 against administrators of the company’s retirement plan. We don’t yet know the feedback, if any, that may have been given to the plaintiffs or the expected outcome of that case. Hendron may have thought, for example, that it was a losing battle and thus decided to take the case into his own hands.

In The Violence Volcano (Van Fleet and Van Fleet, 2010) we discuss the symptoms of a “sick” internal environment and how to minimize the impact of these negative organizational influences and manage their occurrence and consequences.
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HARASSMENT: WORKER’s GODLY DUTY?

Individuals who would probably scream the loudest if subjected to bullying, threatening remarks, or sexual harassment are often unaware that their own behavior, although nonsexual, is considered as harassment by their coworkers.

• CASE: What can you say when a coworker in the office constantly annoys everyone with her religious talks? A get-together at her home turns out to be a recruiting meeting for her church, not an office party. She sends emails and pamphlets and corners workers in the break room and at lunch to push her views. Conversations start as a pretext to something that’s office-related but always end up with her turning the subject to her religion and how we need to experience what she experiences. By the way, her boss goes to the same church.

Someone, preferably HR rather than a coworker, needs to inform her that harassment is not necessarily sexual in nature and that it can be subtle (shunning, annoying, or avoiding an individual) or very overt (propositioning or making explicit requests). Harassment of any kind can affect workers deeply, although some individuals may be able to cope with them so that they are not so disruptive of the work environment.

We personally have dealt successfully with religious harassment by simply telling the other person calmly, eye-to-eye, that we are happy that she has found the religion of her choice and that it brings her much joy – but that we also have made our choices, that we have our own religious views, and are not open to changing. “We respect your choices; please respect ours.”

If that doesn’t work, tell the person that you would appreciate her not discussing personal, non-work matters at work, as religion is a very private matter and that probably no one here is interested in changing his or her choice.

Notice that we do not suggest telling the person whether we attend church or believe in her God. All such personal questions should go unanswered as they are inappropriate for office discussion.

Have you experienced this type of workplace problem?  Let us hear from you.

Health and Work Safety: Food Safety and the Food Supply

So we forgot that terrorists were still looming large until the little Nigerian hopped aboard the big jet plane to Detroit just a half hour before it lifted off. Let us use this Christmas Day event as a reminder that we are vulnerable in other venues as well. The food industry, for example. Whether it involves international political extremists or just your everyday disgruntled worker who “has had it” with his boss, a coworker, or the company.

If you work in the food industry – or if you buy food at someone’s workplace – workplace violence could suddenly and unexpectedly take on a whole new meaning for you.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 76 million food-borne illness cases occur “naturally” or “non-intentionally” in the United States every year.

This amounts to one in four Americans becoming ill after eating foods contaminated with pathogens such as E. Coli O157: H7, Salmonella, Hepatitis A, Campylobacter, Shigella, Norovirus and Listeria.

Every year about 325,000 people are hospitalized with a diagnosis of food poisoning, and 5,000 die.

How easy would it be, then, for a disgruntled worker or customer to intentionally contaminate our food supply?

Is it any wonder that our Government and the food industry are concerned that terrorists might also target our food supply?

Are you concerned? Should you be?