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At this point you and your group have to think about how to not expose YOURSELVES to legal ramifications. Keep in mind that YOU could very well get fired yourself by the time this whole thing shakes out if you handle it wrong. The answer to me is obvious- that the person who punched absolutely must fired without pay, charges MUST be filed. You do this to avoid negligence charges if a lawsuit arises from the punchee. You want to demonstrate you did not create a hostile work environment where the violence was allowed to continue. Because if you do, an incident like this absolutely could happen again. And by then the legal threshold for negligence will have been fully met, meaning your punchee will be looking for a nice payday (if he isn't already, and there's a good chance he is).
The punchee and manager need to be talked to at minimum, possibly suspended although I think a threat of suspension would be best. Let them know if another similar event was to occur, or if punchee was again to be subordinate it could result in termination. Really, the best way to do it is to document everything and wait until they do something else wrong in the future... then fire them for that offense. It gets you off the hook completely. Make sure you make your other managers totally aware of the legal risks and I'm pretty sure they'll side with you.
at my company if you touch anybody, like physical fight, both are fired no matter who at fault, no matter who you are, automatically.
we had a college student with an ego that wanted somebody gone. he taunted him all morning, then when he walk by he purposely fell off his stool claiming he got punch. Both got fired automatically. The other person was rehired couple weeks later
So....if someone is just sitting around minding their own business and another person, because of some perceived injustice, starts beating on the former BOTH get fired?? The way you worded it makes it sound not only would a totally innocent person get made jobless but even if they sat there and let themselves be beaten without putting up a defense they'd still be fired. Kinda hard to believe and I think any good lawyer would be able to prove a case of wrongful termination based on those parameters.
At this point you and your group have to think about how to not expose YOURSELVES to legal ramifications. Keep in mind that YOU could very well get fired yourself by the time this whole thing shakes out if you handle it wrong. The answer to me is obvious- that the person who punched absolutely must fired without pay, charges MUST be filed. You do this to avoid negligence charges if a lawsuit arises from the punchee. You want to demonstrate you did not create a hostile work environment where the violence was allowed to continue. Because if you do, an incident like this absolutely could happen again. And by then the legal threshold for negligence will have been fully met, meaning your punchee will be looking for a nice payday (if he isn't already, and there's a good chance he is).
The punchee and manager need to be talked to at minimum, possibly suspended although I think a threat of suspension would be best. Let them know if another similar event was to occur, or if punchee was again to be subordinate it could result in termination. Really, the best way to do it is to document everything and wait until they do something else wrong in the future... then fire them for that offense. It gets you off the hook completely. Make sure you make your other managers totally aware of the legal risks and I'm pretty sure they'll side with you.
The thing is, even given the overly emotional and obviously biased story of the OP, the punchee did nothing wrong from the perspective is he was operating under management permission if not direct guidance. For example, this apparently is over the puncher's laptop. It's not personal property, but company equipment that management reassigned from the puncher to the punchee. And until such time that management redirects him to give it to the puncher, he not only doesn't have to, but shouldn't since he has responsibility for it.
Now the discussion point on whether management has in fact given that direction is not clear, but regardless is not at issue here. If he was given that direction and failed to comply, that is up to management to decide and resolve, not the puncher. And is a completely separate issue from the assault.
As for the OP, from his wording, assuming any of the story is true, he obviously has an axe to grind with the punchee and the punchee's manager as well, which renders much of his account suspect. Not something you want when the punchee's lawyer drags the OP on the stand as part of a workplace violence & hostile work environment suit.
Workplace violence can't be tolerated. Do you really think this can be worked out?
I was the lucky manager who had an employee reassigned to me after he came back from a 30 day unpaid suspension for workplace violence. This guy was already a train wreck of an employee but always managed to get another chance-and this was before the violent episode. He returns to work and I am instructed to enforce his PIP. PIPs are normally one page-his was TEN pages.
Although there were no more violent incidents, his outrageous conduct continued. A few months in I had enough documentation of his PIP violations to warrant termination. Upper management and HR just wanted him to go away, so they did nothing. Again.
About two years later-with continuing problems with this guy-there is a reorg and we get a new top boss and in the reorg he is assigned a different immediate manager. The new boss is no nonsense and terminates him after another outrageous incident. He actually appealed his firing (it's a union shop) and lost.
Fire everyone, fire people who don't even work there, shut the business and burn the building down.
Not something you want when the punchee's lawyer drags the OP on the stand as part of a workplace violence & hostile work environment suit.
OP's employer might be willing to take the risk by assuming punchee doesn't have the resources to take on the company. Some employers do that, you know.
It's nice to see sound advice on CD from qualified managers who take their jobs seriously. You guys are a rare breed in today's world, but your insight is invaluable.
So....if someone is just sitting around minding their own business and another person, because of some perceived injustice, starts beating on the former BOTH get fired?? The way you worded it makes it sound not only would a totally innocent person get made jobless but even if they sat there and let themselves be beaten without putting up a defense they'd still be fired. Kinda hard to believe and I think any good lawyer would be able to prove a case of wrongful termination based on those parameters.
Often times just like with children, the person who gets hit first HAS done something to draw the enmity of the person doing the hitting
Might have been off-work or at work, verbally, gossip/rumors started--
Who knows
The point is the company is not going to be drawn into a lengthy investigation trying to assign blame
If the policy is KNOWN, POSTED, APPLIED UNIFORMLY then the company has done its job in establishing the rules that people work under...
The APPLIED UNIFORMLY is the most important and legally responsible aspect IMO (not Attorny) but a company cannot afford to have history of bias--enforcing for some employees and not for others...
Same senario happened on "The Good Doctor" this past week--when one resident roughed up a doctor who had sexually harassed the resident's "girlfriend", also a resident....the HR Dept terminated the resident and then his attorney discovered there were two other doctors who had committeed similar offenses and were not terminated---just cautioned... The resident was Asian ethnically (from London) and the two other doctors who escaped with slap on the wrists were Anglos---
The justification from the Asian, female head of HR was that they brought money into the hospital and were worth saving....the resident had no credentials and therefore was not----nothing racial in her decisions...
The hospital's legal person didn't see it that way--and said they gave the appearance of bias--racial bias--and that likely would not survive a lawsuit---so they took him back under caution...
Any rule must be applied equally in all situations to avoid the suggestion of preference...
I have been watching Person of Interest on Netflix.
My answer: Everyone gets shot in the kneecaps
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Give him a $1000 bonus.
