Safe Terminations: Separating The High-Risk Employee - Securitas

June 24, 2010 

Safe Terminations: Separating The High-Risk Employee 

Marc W. McElhaney Ph. D 

Tom Evans, Ph.D. 

Joe Konieczny, Ph.D.. 

Critical Response Associates LLC

How Bad Is It? 

(The Stats) 

• Number 1 cause of workplace death 

• 50% of companies report incident in 1 year 

• $ 121 billion/year 

• CDC: an “epidemic”

Costs of 

Workplace Violence 

• Personal injury & death 

• Property damage 

• Legal costs 

• Health care costs 

• Workers’ compensation claims 

• Other damage claims 

• Security costs

Costs of 

Workplace Violence 

• Damage to employee morale 

• Decreased efficiency 

• Increased absences 

• Diversion of resources 

• Reduced productivity 

• The company’s image

• “Each employer shall furnish to each of his 

employees employment and a place of 

employment which are free from recognized 

hazards that are causing or are likely to cause 

death or serious physical harm to his 

employees.” 

-Section 5(a) of the OSH Act 

“Employees can be cited for violating the 

..Clause if there is a recognized hazard of 

workplace violence in their establishments and 

they do nothing to prevent or abate it.” 

-OSHA 3148, 1998 (Revised) 

Name Surname | Title of presentation | Date 5

Negligence Claims 

• Negligent hiring 

• Negligent retention 

• Negligent security 

• Negligent termination 

• Negligent training 

• Negligent referencing/duty to warn

So How Did We Get Here In the First Place? 

(maybe it’s not a surprise) 

• Mistake #1: Overusing our favorite defense 

mechanisms: 

• Delay 

• Denial 

• Avoidance 

• The longer you wait, the worse it gets 

• If possible, avoid catching someone off guard 

• Employees generally should not be surprised 

• Managers should not give good ratings to poor 

performers

The Profile: 

There isn’t one. 

(There’s not even several) 

8

Violence is not a trait, 

it is 

a process. 


Primary Factors Influencing 

Risk Assessment 

1. Personality characteristics 

2. Emotional Status 

3. Cognitive Factors 

4. Situational and Social Factors 

a. Within work setting 

b. Outside work

1 Example: 

Bob, 

on a bad morning

Know Your Employees!

[ Although many had 

information...] 

“no one had all the information 

and no one connected the 

dots.” 

Report of the Virginia Tech review Panel August 2007

What About the Employee 

Who 

Just Snaps? 


Violence is just not an act, 

It is a 

process. 


Terminating the At Risk 

Employee 

Common Patterns 


• History of intimidation and aggressive 

behavior 

• Avoids disciplinary actions (or any 

kind of interaction) 

• Common excuses: 

•“We didn’t want to make him 

angry.” 

•“We just didn’t take him seriously.” 

•“Well, that’s just the way he is… 

That’s just Joe.” 

• Avoidance is often unconscious until 

the termination 

The Workplace Bully 


The “Disgruntled” Employee 

• Believes that he or she has been treated unfairly 

• Often has many complaints, but is.. 

• Usually overly focused on a single (or original) trauma 

• Has become increasingly 

• Withdrawn 

• Alienated 

• Egocentric 

• Believes that the system cannot solve their problems 

• Has decided that there will come a time when they may have 

to take things in their own hands

The Overly Attached Employee 

• The “Pathological Affective Organizational Attachment 

Disorder” 

• The employee who literally cannot leave 

• Employee is overly dependent on the company for a variety of 

critical needs: 

• Identity 

• Self-concept 

• Social life/organizational network 

• Personal structure 

• Recreational activities 

• Work is family 

• Feels betrayed and rejected

The “Nothing Left to Lose” Employee 

• Under extreme emotional 

distress 

• Has suffered recent critical 

losses 

• Feelings of hopelessness/no 

way out 

• Limited support system 

• Has made comments warning 

of possible suicidal ideation 

• Feels that he or she has literally 

“nothing left to lose”

STALKING 

• No person by engaging in a pattern of conduct 

shall knowingly cause another person to believe 

that the offender will cause physical harm to the 

other person or cause mental distress to the other 

person. 

• An attempted forced relationship

• No “Profile” 

STALKING 

• Over 21 various classification systems 

• Assess behavior vs. personality 

• Duration can last from a few weeks to years 

• Violence is common (approx 50%) but 

homicide is extremely rare > .25%

STALKING 

• Ratio – 14 of 1,000 person 18+ 

• 75% knew stalker in some capacity 

• 43% threatened with violence 

• 12% reported physical violence (hit, slapped, 

knocked to ground)

STALKING 

• RECON (Meloy & Mohandie 2006) most 

useful 

• Assess the relationship of stalker/victim 

and context of relationship 

• Extremely important distinctions for risk 

assessment and management

STALKING 

• TYPE I 

• Prior Relationship-Private Figure 

• (Former boyfriend, spouse, etc) 

• Primarily males stalking females 

• Threats 83% 

• Physical Violence

STALKING 

• Physical Violence 34% 

• Property Damage 18% 

• Combined 22%

• Type II 

STALKING 

• Public Figure (No prior relationship) 

• Threats 18%

STALKING 

• Personal violence 1% 

• Property Violence .7% 

• Combined .3% 

• Access to this victim pool more difficult

STALKING 

• Motivation – Revenge vs. Forging Relationship 

• Restraining orders – Violated 40% 

• Average length of stalking – 1.3 years

Safe Terminations: 

A 5-Step Process 

1. Pause! 

2. Confer 

3. Assess 

4. Control, Contain & Stabilize (Call A Time Out) 

5. Plan!

1. PAUSE! 

• Mistake #2 (after delay, denial and avoidance): Acting Too 

Hastily 

• “We just want to make him go away.” But getting rid of 

him may not get rid of him. 

• Do not rush into it: hit the pause button! 

• Most of your options to assess and manage risk end at 

termination 

• If in doubt, wait!

2. Confer With Colleagues 

• If you are not certain, ask 

for a “reality check” 

• Compare notes 

• Surface concerns/override 

denial

3. Assess 

• Assemble your team 

• Collect data 

• Conduct a preliminary assessment 

• Do you have enough information? 

• Are your resources available? 

• Do you need professional consultation? 

• What do you need to complete your assessment?

Good Management 

is dependent on 

Good Assessment!

4. Control, Contain, & Stabilize 

• Call a Time-Out 

• Address the immediate security concerns 

• Control the risks and give yourself time 

• Exit the employee from the workplace 

• Conduct a preliminary risk assessment 

• De-fuse and reduce the emotional immediacy 

• Address security needs 

• Identify critical resources 

• Remember that this is a process, not an event

Exiting The Employee (Appropriately) Prior To 

Termination 

Gives You the Opportunity To: 

• Ensure safely/establish security 

• Initiate a more positive intervention/relationship 

• Obtain more time for planning the termination 

• Give the employee more time to defuse him or herself 

• Obtain a better, more comprehensive assessment 

• Test the employees ability to comply and control impulses 

• Help the employee through a venting/defusing process 

• Manage the risks down 

• Establish a relationship with a designated individual that can 

continue post-termination 

• Begin the separation process

5. Planning The Termination 

• Often a multi-step process occurring throughout 

the process 

• Plan thoroughly 

• Attend to the details 

• Rehearse 

• Be prepared for all foreseeable outcomes and 

consequences 

• Include your team 

• Identify and ready critical resources 

• Don’t short-cut the assessment process: know 

your employee

Threat Assessment During The Termination Session 

• Logistics “The d….l’s in the details”: 

oWho? Where? When? 

oImmediate security issues 

oPhysical setting 

oExiting process 

• Future security issues: 

oDuty to warn? 

oBoundaries 

• The Exit Interview - When and how to utilize a threat 

assessment professional 

• Risk Reduction Strategies: 

oDepersonalization 

oDelocalization

Separate Completely 

• Do nothing to reinforce the relationship 

• Set boundaries 

• All contacts through: 

• Designated channels 

• Outside agents 

• Resources facilitated by outside agents 

• Consider outplacement services

Think Long-Term 

• Know the employee: be prepared for future issues 

• Be proactive! 

• Consider contractual arrangements 

• Utilize community support systems 

• Decide whether legal measures are required 

• Address physical security concerns 

• Set up a strategic monitoring system (often indirect) 

• Utilize outside agents 

• Be creative!

Safe Terminations: Final Words 

• Good Management is Dependent on Good 

Assessment and Planning – Slow it Down! 

• Remember: It’s the Process! 

• Be Fair and Respectful! 

• Think Long-Term! 

• Think Creatively! (each is different) 

• Don’t Go It Alone!

Common Mistakes/ 

Flashpoints 


1. Avoidance, Denials, & Delays 

• “He just kinda snapped.” 

• “How did we let it get this far?” 

• “Well, we don’t really have anything in his file.” 

• “But his performance appraisals have been great.”

Avoiding 

The Workplace Bully 

• “We didn’t want to make him angry” 

• “Well, that’s just Joe – That’s just the way 

he is.”

2. Managers Not Attending 

To Aberrant Behaviors 

• “He hasn’t been himself lately.” 

• “He just gives everyone the creeps.” 

• “She said something about her husband 

being out to get her.”

3. Not Having a Threat Response 

Plan or Team in Place 

Relying on The One-Stop (Non-)Solutions: 

• “We’ll just call the police.” 

• “We referred him to the EAP.”

4. Lack of Employees’ Support 

and Participation 

• “We didn’t want to make him angry.” 

• “We just didn’t take him seriously.” 

• “I just didn’t think it’d do any good.” (to 

report it) 

• “I didn’t want to get in trouble.”

Lack of Understanding of Terms and Policy 

• “Well, he didn’t actually make a threat.” 

• “Heck, we were just playing around.” 

• “I didn’t know who to call.”

Do Your Employees Know Your 

Do Your Employees Know Your 

Definition Of Violence, Per Your 

Definition Of Violence, Per Your 

Policy? 

Policy?

How Do You Define 

“Violence”? 

i.e., “any conduct that creates an 

intimidating, hostile, offensive or threatening 

working environment through unwelcome 

words, actions, or physical contact.”

Do Your Employees Know 

What You Expect of Them? 

Is there a Training Program in 

Place?

Essential Training Programs 

• Threat Assessment Team Training 

• Critical Personnel (HR, Security, Legal..) 

• Managers & Supervisors 

• General Employee Awareness

5. Acting Too Hastily 

(not preparing for critical events) 

“We just wanted to get rid of him.”

Critical Response Associates 

www.craorg.com 

404-870-9777 

info@craorg.com 

Dr. Marc McElhaney (Atlanta) 

mobile: 404-441-5793 

Dr. Tom Evans (Cleveland) 

mobile: 440-263-0266 

Dr. Joe Konieczny (Cleveland) 

mobile: 440-221-3791

We Never Sleep 

www.ci-pinkerton.com 


Contact Information: 

Gary Fonce- Director of Operations 

216-520-5200 Office 

216-244-1990 Cell 

gary.fonce@ci-pinkerton.com 

Mark Jones- Director of Sales 

214-619-3080 Office 

214-679-5282 Cell 

mark.jones@ci-pinkerton.com 

www.ci-pinkerton.com 

We Never Sleep

Safe Terminations: Separating The High-Risk Employee - Securitas

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