(Published May 18, 2009)

A few years ago at a local business, an employee who had been notified of a court-ordered garnishment of his wages opened fire on his co-workers, killing seven.

A few years before that, at a distant branch of my own employer, an employee who had been fired was caught in the parking lot with a shotgun.

We've all seen such stories in the media. It seems that it happens every few months, often when an employee has been fired or had wages garnished. Thankfully, it's still rare enough to be news, and most of us will never be directly concerned with such a case.

But at the same time, the poor economy means that the potential for such cases is, if anything, growing. I'm no expert, but from the cases I've seen, it seems to be employees who have nothing left to lose who go off the deep end. Certainly the majority of our employees are going to be stable enough to recognize that sometimes there's no business answer except to lay off people, and if they don't, they're more likely to run to their attorney than their gun rack.

But if we do have employees who are likely to commit violence, hopefully we'll have had some warning of who the likely suspects are. No, we're not expected to be trained psychologists, and we're not on the floor with the employees every day. But if your managers are doing their jobs, you'll have had some notice of which employees are making bizarre comments or odd threats. You'll be aware of any unusual or changed behavior.

If you have any idea at all that there might be a violence issue with an employee who is laid off, or even disciplined, take measures to protect yourself and your fellow employees. Bring a witness into the meeting with you. Have someone from Security standing by. Have Security walk the employee out immediately and make sure ID badges, keys, and other accesses are either returned or locked out.

And we can even be doing things beforehand. Forget all the hype about being sued if you say or ask anything negative in a reference check, and be thinking about negligent hiring instead. When you've had complaints about violent speech, fighting, or other suspect behavior, be thinking negligent retention. Make sure your managers know what kind of behavior to be aware of and that they have to report it. Don't hesitate to contact the police or your EAP if necessary — they know what to do, and they'd rather be called in unnecessarily than not at all.

Keep safe!

Catherine Bannon is an HR consultant in Marshfield, MA (catherine.bannon@gmail.com). Bannon worked for 10 years in HR management before starting her consulting practice.