Preventing and Handling Fighting

 

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Whether a situation is merely two employees arguing in the office or an actual violent confrontation, you must take steps to curtail these situations when they arise. Fighting among employees disrupts productivity and may hurt employee morale, depending upon the way you handle the situation.

Employee morale isn't the only thing that might get hurt if fighting occurs in the workplace! Employees themselves can get hurt and you may end up dealing with workers' compensation claims. If an employee exhibits violent behavior in the course of his or her job and hurts another worker or a customer, you may have legal troubles involving negligent hiring or retention claims.

A cab driver assaulted another cab driver who worked for a competing company. The cab company was liable for the competing cab driver's injuries because its driver had been acting within the scope of his employment at the time of the fight. In another incident, a customer claimed that he was punched in the face by one bartender while another bartender held him. The customer successfully sued the bar owner for negligent retention of the employee. The employer knew of at least one incident with regard to the bartender's criminal record but had made no attempt to check further into his background or experience.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), has even cited (or at least threatened to cite) employers with violent employees on the basis that those employers are not providing their other employees with a safe place to work.

When a situation arises that involves fighting, what should you do?

• Tell all employees that fighting will not be tolerated. Explain to them they will be subject to disciplinary procedures, up to and including termination, and that you are willing to call the police if the situation merits it.
• Communicate your policy, along with other prohibited conduct rules, in every way that is effective and feasible. Post the rules, provide employees with written copies, and discuss them when necessary.
• Educate yourself (and other supervisors, if applicable) in conflict resolution. Make sure you know how and when to intervene in situations and when to call the police.

Whatever you do, be consistent in the way fighting employees are treated. If you enforce your policy inconsistently, you may have more trouble than just violent employees on your hands.

Two employees who are members of minority groups get into a fist fight and are terminated. Two non-minority employees get into a fist fight and reprimands are put in their personnel files. By enforcing the policy with different levels of punishment, the employer has opened itself up for charges of discrimination.

You should also know that an employee's knowledge of a coworker's violent tendencies can be a source of liability for you as the employer.

It doesn't always come to blows. Sometimes employees will have shouting matches or on-going personality conflicts related to work or to personal differences and issues. Even though no punches have been thrown, this kind of behavior can kill productivity and distract other workers. Handle these kinds of conflicts as if they were fights. Get the facts, explain your policy, and work toward getting employees to resolve the matter or at least find a way to keep their differences from affecting their work.

What can't you do? Here's a list of things you should definitely not do:

• Don't ignore the situation.
• Even if the fight was serious and resulted in injuries, be cautious if you call the police. Don't tell the police, "he started it," and institute criminal proceedings. If the employee is not convicted, you could face a charge of malicious prosecution. Instead, ask the police to investigate the matter.
• Don't let charges of favoritism in the way certain employees are treated afterward destroy employee morale.