A while back I was involved in somewhat of a scary situation with a disgruntled ex-employee. I am curious as to how others would have proceeded, especially if they had a CCW at the time (which I did not). I have not read many stories like this here (although I have only been lurking for a few months), but I think it is definitely within the realm of possibility that others could encounter something similar.
The situation involved an employee of mine that was given several disciplinary warnings for poor job performance and bad behavior. At each of these disciplinary meetings, the employee was very argumentative and accusatory. I did not engage the employee in the arguments and did my best to try to steer the discussion back to the employee’s action. When the employee did not heed any of the warnings, I consulted legal counsel and made the decision to fire the employee.
I typically ask one other manager to sit in on a firing as a witness. Given my previous dealings with this employee, I asked two managers to sit in on the termination. I did not expect things to happen as they did, but I also knew there was a chance the employee would not passively accept being fired. As soon as I told the employee he was being terminated, he got in my face and started yelling and making threats. He also made threats against the two managers in the room. I stayed seated and tried not to escalate the situation. Unfortunately, the situation did escalate when the employee told us that he had a gun in his car that he was going to go get so that he could come back and kill me. As soon as he said this, I told one of the managers to call 911.
The employee walked out to leave the building while the other manager and I watched from a distance. As the employee left the building, he continued to make threats. This was all happening very quickly and I was starting to panic because we could not get the door locked and I could see the employee go to his car and start heading back towards the building. I told the other employees in the area what is going on and that they should get away from the door. As the employee came bursting back through the door, I was out in the open as were the other manager and a few employees.
I never saw a gun. The employee just continued his tirade, demanded some money, and left. If the employee was serious about his threats, this likely would have been game over for me and perhaps others.
The police show up about 10-15 minutes later. I consider this to be a pretty poor showing since this happened in fairly decent-sized city. If the threats would have been real, the police would have made it just in time for the cleanup operation (maybe this was intentional or perhaps they don't consider this a high priority call).
Later that day, I was talking to one of the managers involved in the termination when the ex-employee and his brother approached us demanding money. During their visit, the police told us that the ex-employee’s brother had gang affiliations. The manager and I were not in a good spot since we were isolated alone in one part of the building. I tell the ex-employee to wait for a minute while I go get the check. I do not feel good leaving the manager alone, but it would only make sense for me to get the check. Of course, I go immediately to a phone to call 911. Fortunately, the ex-employee and his brother leave soon after I walk off.
This employee continued his harassment for several weeks calling and driving by the business. Eventually, I heard that he landed another job, got fired, and found someone else to harassment.
Perhaps the guy is nothing more than a bully. However, this situation could have gone very, very badly for me. I definitely felt very powerless during the encounter, especially when the employee came back through the door. I am interested to hear any thoughts you have on how this situation could have been better handled. As I mentioned earlier, I am also interested to hear how you would have acted if you had a CCW.
The situation involved an employee of mine that was given several disciplinary warnings for poor job performance and bad behavior. At each of these disciplinary meetings, the employee was very argumentative and accusatory. I did not engage the employee in the arguments and did my best to try to steer the discussion back to the employee’s action. When the employee did not heed any of the warnings, I consulted legal counsel and made the decision to fire the employee.
I typically ask one other manager to sit in on a firing as a witness. Given my previous dealings with this employee, I asked two managers to sit in on the termination. I did not expect things to happen as they did, but I also knew there was a chance the employee would not passively accept being fired. As soon as I told the employee he was being terminated, he got in my face and started yelling and making threats. He also made threats against the two managers in the room. I stayed seated and tried not to escalate the situation. Unfortunately, the situation did escalate when the employee told us that he had a gun in his car that he was going to go get so that he could come back and kill me. As soon as he said this, I told one of the managers to call 911.
The employee walked out to leave the building while the other manager and I watched from a distance. As the employee left the building, he continued to make threats. This was all happening very quickly and I was starting to panic because we could not get the door locked and I could see the employee go to his car and start heading back towards the building. I told the other employees in the area what is going on and that they should get away from the door. As the employee came bursting back through the door, I was out in the open as were the other manager and a few employees.
I never saw a gun. The employee just continued his tirade, demanded some money, and left. If the employee was serious about his threats, this likely would have been game over for me and perhaps others.
The police show up about 10-15 minutes later. I consider this to be a pretty poor showing since this happened in fairly decent-sized city. If the threats would have been real, the police would have made it just in time for the cleanup operation (maybe this was intentional or perhaps they don't consider this a high priority call).
Later that day, I was talking to one of the managers involved in the termination when the ex-employee and his brother approached us demanding money. During their visit, the police told us that the ex-employee’s brother had gang affiliations. The manager and I were not in a good spot since we were isolated alone in one part of the building. I tell the ex-employee to wait for a minute while I go get the check. I do not feel good leaving the manager alone, but it would only make sense for me to get the check. Of course, I go immediately to a phone to call 911. Fortunately, the ex-employee and his brother leave soon after I walk off.
This employee continued his harassment for several weeks calling and driving by the business. Eventually, I heard that he landed another job, got fired, and found someone else to harassment.
Perhaps the guy is nothing more than a bully. However, this situation could have gone very, very badly for me. I definitely felt very powerless during the encounter, especially when the employee came back through the door. I am interested to hear any thoughts you have on how this situation could have been better handled. As I mentioned earlier, I am also interested to hear how you would have acted if you had a CCW.
And yes, gangs use violence against non-gang members. If anything, they are probably more aggressive with regular people. Its not like the mafia from the 30's where they wouldn't harm "civilians." 
