Domestic Violence in the Workplace: A Continuing Danger
March 2004
Domestic violence has been spilling over into
the workplace at an alarming rate. This national tragedy requires a necessary
response involving a team approach to eliminate the threat.
by James
N. Madero, Ph.D.
Violence Prevention
International
Dana M.—Adminstrative Assistant: Dana had been
a 6-year employee who was well liked by both her supervisors and coworkers.
Her interactions with her coworkers were frequent and always appropriate. However,
she rarely, if ever, spoke about her life outside the workplace. Most of her
friends knew that she was married and had two children. Some of her coworkers
met Dana's husband at one of the company's Christmas parties. No one was aware
of any problems in Dana's marriage. She never mentioned she was having difficulties,
nor did she exhibit any physical or emotional signs of injury or abuse. Late
one morning Dana's husband came to the workplace, went to Dana's office and
fired five shots at her, killing her instantly.
Mary Beth W.—Bank Teller: Mary Beth was having
so many problems with her husband that she decided to take a couple of weeks
off from work, with the hope that she could resolve them before returning to
work. Her hopes began to fade as the number of extremely intense arguments increased
on a daily basis. Things deteriorated to the point that one day her husband
slashed all the tires on her car with his hunting knife, threatened to kill
her, and then beat her up to the point that she had to go to the emergency room.
While she was being treated at the emergency room, the police came and took
a detailed report from her. A warrant for her husband's arrest was issued and
the police immediately began looking for him. Mary Beth stayed at the hospital
over night. She was discharged the next morning and went home, where she remained
for several days while the police sought out her husband so they could arrest
him. He showed up at home late one evening, kicked in the side door to the house,
found Mary Beth in her bedroom and fired three shots at her. He then ran out
of the house. A neighbor called 911 for help. Unfortunately, Mary Beth died
on the way to the hospital.
Alice B.—District Manager: Alice notified her
supervisor that she was going through a nasty divorce and custody battle with
her soon to be ex-husband. The relationship with her husband was quite contentious
and evolved to the point that he threatened to kill her, He even sent their
two children home from a visit with him with several bullets to give to their
mother.
Alice's supervisor immediately recognized the seriousness of the situation.
He encouraged Alice to file a police report and obtain a temporary restraining
order. He also circulated a picture of Alice's husband around the workplace
and arranged to have armed security present during the hours that Alice worked.
Three days later Alice's husband confronted Alice in the company parking lot,
and shot her to death as she was getting out of her car.
A National Tragedy
Incidents involving domestic violence are occurring at an alarming rate in
the United States. According to a recent survey, one out of every three American
women reported being the victim of physical abuse by an intimate partner. The
overwhelming majority of adult domestic violence victims are women and the perpetrators
are men. Approximately 1,000 women are murdered every year as a result of domestic
violence. Their killers are usually their husband, former husband, boyfriend,
or ex-boyfriend. Almost 1 million women per year are the victims of non-lethal
domestic violence, including rapes and sexual and physical assaults.
Domestic violence has been spilling over into the workplace at an alarming
rate. There were over 30 women killed at work in domestic violence incidents
during 2002. Seventy-four percent of employed battered women will experience
abuse at work either in person or over the telephone. The total cost of domestic
violence to America's companies and organizations is estimated to be $3 to $5
billion dollars per year.
A Necessary Response
Almost all employers would prefer not to get involved in the private lives
of their employees. The preferred focus at work is to have employees meet the
needs of their employer by performing the work for which they were hired. In
the past, many employers tried to ignore domestic problems when they started
to appear in the workplace. All too often, however, this approach resulted in
tragic consequences.
Nowadays, employers are taking a more proactive approach. Employers have
learned that a planned, organized, and rapid response during the early stages
of domestic violence in the workplace can help decrease and sometimes prevent
a serious escalation of violence.
One of the most effective ways to deal with the problem of domestic violence
in the workplace is for an employer to develop and implement a comprehensive
Workplace Violence Prevention Program that includes the following:
- Workplace Violence Prevention Team
- Workplace Violence Prevention Policy
- Workplace Security Audit
- Training for the Workplace Violence Prevention Team, Managers and Supervisors,
and all Employees
- Communication Plan for Reporting Incidents
- Incident Response and Incident Management Plan and Procedures
- Domestic Violence Response and Incident Management Plan and Procedures
- Effectiveness Evaluation
The Team Approach
One of the most effective methods for dealing with all types of workplace
violence incidents, and particularly those involving domestic violence, is to
take a team approach. At a minimum, the Team is generally made up of members
from the following areas: executive management, human resources, legal, security,
and a workplace violence/threat assessment specialist. The Team should be trained
by a Workplace Violence Prevention expert. Once the Team is trained and begins
to respond to, and manage incidents, each member of the Team can bring his or
her unique expertise and experience to the incident management process.
With regard to a domestic violence situation, Human Resources can provide
information on the employee, facilitate contact with the company or organization's
Employee Assistance Program, and/or local Domestic Violence Prevention organizations.
Legal can advise the Team on privacy issues, negligence, and temporary restraining
orders. Security deals with reporting incidents to the police, dealing with
safety issues, and providing on-site security and other forms of protection.
Eliminating the Threat
The ultimate goal when dealing with domestic violence in the workplace is
to make the workplace safe for all employees, customers, vendors, and anyone
else who comes to the workplace. This can sometimes be a very daunting and challenging
task. When a report of a possible domestic violence incident is made, many times
the first reaction is to focus on the potential "employee victim," and initiate
measures to insure his/her safety. This certainly is an important goal, and
steps should be initiated immediately to accomplish this. At the same time,
however, equal attention needs to be given to protect all of the organization's
other employees.
The Team needs to address issues such as temporarily removing the potential
"employee victim" from the worksite, notifying the police, placing armed security
on-site, and having the threat assessment specialist evaluate the level of risk
and begin formulating the steps to be taken to eliminate the threat to the workplace.
It is critical when dealing with domestic violence in the workplace that the
Team utilizes the expertise of all Team members, but particularly a Threat Assessment/Incident
Management Specialist that has considerable experience with domestic violence.
Obstacles to a Safe Resolution
Even with the best intentions and expertise, there may be serious obstacles
to attaining the goal of returning the worksite to a place of safety for all
employees. The Team has to avoid giving advice that could backfire. For example,
if the Team were to tell the "employee/victim" to leave his or her spouse and
the spouse subsequently kills the employee, the employee's family may sue and
take the position that the advice to leave was the cause of the employee's spouse
committing the homicide. It is generally safer for the employer to refer the
"employee/victim" to the police and/or a domestic violence prevention organization.
Another obstacle involves the "employee/victim" not following through with
referrals to the police, domestic violence prevention organizations, or the
Employee Assistance Program. There are also times when the "employee/victim"
may withhold important information, provide incomplete or distorted information
and/or engage in reckless behavior. Some domestic violence "employee/victims"
have become involved in a romantic relationships with coworkers, further increasing
the risk to the workplace. Occasionally, the "employee/victim" continues to
have contact with the perpetrator, sometimes even violating their own restraining
order.
Three Tragedies Revisited
Could the three domestic violence tragedies described above have been prevented?
There is no way to determine this for sure, but applying some of the information
discussed in this article might have made a difference. If Dana M. or a coworker
had informed their employer about the potential for violent behavior from Dana's
husband, then Dana's employer could have taken steps to protect her, including
referring her to the police and a domestic violence prevention organization.
Had this happened she might still be alive today.
If Mary Beth had stayed away from her home and gone into hiding, she too
might still be alive today. Somewhere along the line, Mary Beth was either given
bad advice, or chose to ignore some good advice and returned to her home while
her husband was still "at large." Informing her employer of her domestic violence
situation might have made a difference.
Lastly, given the seriousness of Alice B's situation, she should not have
been allowed to continue working on-site until there was a high degree of certainty
that her husband no longer posed a threat to her and/or her coworkers. The safer
choice for Alice's company would have been to permit Alice to work off-site,
or place her on leave until the threat ended.
It Isn't Over
America's employers and employees are more aware of domestic violence in
the workplace than they were a decade ago. There are also more resources available
now than a decade ago and it is very likely that people's lives have been saved
because of this. Nevertheless, domestic violence continues to exist, and is
likely to do so well into the future. America has many elements of a violent
society. Until this changes, domestic violence will continue to pose a threat
not only to the workplace, but to the lives and well-being of hundreds of thousands
of its citizens no matter where they are.
For more information on this topic, please see
the July 2006 article, "Investigating Domestic
Violence in the Workplace."
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