Duty of care includes protecting employees from violence outside of work
Duty of care includes protecting employees from violence outside of work
The Company also argued that it could not foresee that the shooter would shoot another employee. The Court rejected this argument and found that previous friction between the employees had made it foreseeable that other employees would be at risk of injury. The previous friction included the shooter punching an employee in the head and picking up a heavy bar and being restrained by other employees to prevent the shooter from hitting the employee with the heavy bar.
The Court concluded that the duty of care can extend to protecting employees from the criminal behaviour of third parties, including their fellow employees. The Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the District Court to award $861,197 in damages to the employee that the shooter had shot.
HR Tip:
This case shows that employers need to treat very seriously incidents of violence and potential violence in the workplace and must discipline employees appropriately in order to comply with their duty of care responsibilities to employees.
Duty of care includes protecting employees from violence outside of work - To learn more about this author, visit Jessica Lee's Website.
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The Company argued that the shooting was not caused by its negligence. The Court found that the shooting probably would not have occurred had the Company not breached its duty of care. In this case, it was found that the Company had not meaningfully disciplined the shooter in regard to previous violent incidents at work and had discouraged an assaulted employee’s suggestion that the matter be reported to the police. Further, the Company had indicated to the assaulted employee that if a further incident occurred then the shooter and the assaulted employee would both be required to leave the workplace. The Court concluded that the Company breached its duty of care by not sacking or disciplining the shooter over these previous violent incidents.
The Company also argued that it could not foresee that the shooter would shoot another employee. The Court rejected this argument and found that previous friction between the employees had made it foreseeable that other employees would be at risk of injury. The previous friction included the shooter punching an employee in the head and picking up a heavy bar and being restrained by other employees to prevent the shooter from hitting the employee with the heavy bar.
The Court concluded that the duty of care can extend to protecting employees from the criminal behaviour of third parties, including their fellow employees. The Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the District Court to award $861,197 in damages to the employee that the shooter had shot.
HR Tip:
This case shows that employers need to treat very seriously incidents of violence and potential violence in the workplace and must discipline employees appropriately in order to comply with their duty of care responsibilities to employees.
Duty of care includes protecting employees from violence outside of work - To learn more about this author, visit Jessica Lee's Website.
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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