Loading ...
Topic: WORKPLACE VIOLENCE
Verbal Threat Scorecard
October 2, 2009
Here are some actual cases where courts and arbitrators had to determine if a verbal threat was a real act of violence warranting immediate termination. Although the cases come from Canada, the principles involved apply equally in the U.S.
| CASE | WHAT WORKER SAID | CAUSE TO FIRE? | REASON |
| Davidson v. Westcom Radio Group Ltd. (BC) | “Just so you know, my son is going to beat the s*** out of you. When he finds you, he is going to shoot you’re a** off. He will bend you in half.” | NO | The worker’s intention wasn’t to kill the co-worker. And the fact that the co-worker continued to sit next to the worker for the rest of the hockey game they were watching showed that he didn’t take the threat seriously. |
| Dilg v. Dr. D. Sarca Inc. (BC) | A dental assistant whose hours have been cut tells co-workers that her husband wanted to “beat the s***” out of” and “kill” the dentist | YES | The assistant’s actions threatened “the root of the employment relationship” and were “extreme and unrepentant.” |
| Guelph (City) v. Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 241 (Spicer Grievance) (ON) | “I can see something like that [the OC Transpo shooting] happening here.” | YES | Among other things, the worker had a history of a hot temper. |
| McEwan v. Nabisco Ltd. (ON) | A worker hits his superior and says, “If I lose my job, I’ll shoot you.” | YES | The worker engaged in actual violence and was involved in two past incidents of assaulting co-workers. |
| Perry v. Ontario Die Co. (ON) | After being accused of stealing, a factory worker threatens several co-workers—to one, she says she’s going to “do her in and break every bone in her body.” | YES | Even though the factory worker only meant to scare the co-workers, this act created “an intolerable situation, which did to some degree affect the production efficiency of the employees.” |
| Redfearn v. Elkford (District) (BC) | When a doctor says that a District clerk/administrator was fit to return to work after treatment for stress, depression and alcohol abuse, the clerk threatens to kill himself and adds that he might “do in” the Mayor as well. | NO | The Mayor didn’t take the threats seriously. Plus, evidence from the doctor suggested that the threats were merely an attempt to manipulate his doctors so that he could avoid returning to work. |
| Siemans VDO Automotive Inc. v. National Automobile Aerospace, Transportation and General Workers Union of Canada (CAW-Canada) Local 1941 (Twigg Grievance) (ON) | An automotive worker calls a union rep who mishandled some matters a “piece of s***” and says he’s “going down.” | NO | The worker had no history of violence and was never warned about being fired. |
| Weyerhaeuser Canada Ltd. v. Industrial Wood and Allied Workers of Canada, Local 1-207 (Devost Grievance) (AB) | A worker points a pike pole at a co-worker’s nose and threatened to “wring his scrawny neck.” | YES | The company had an “obligation, moral and statutory, to maintain a safe workplace." |
Story Tools: 
Email This Post
Print This Post
Top
Email This Post
Print This Post
TopLeave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
