Down economy means rise in workplace violence threat

By Kerri Panchuk, Dallas Business Journal

If the case of a disgruntled financial services client who opened fire against his financial advisers in North Dallas can teach us anything, it’s that workplaces should not ignore threats or unusual behavior exhibited by employees and clients.

That’s the point FBI educator and workplace violence expert Larry Barton hopes to get across to managers at firms across the United States, especially those in financial services.

“I would say that the industry that I have the greatest concern for is the financial services industry,” he said. “The primary reason for that is with market losses and home values under water, people are experiencing depression and anger, and they are looking for someone to blame.”

Barton, a professor of management at The American College in Bryn Mawr, Penn., said in the recession the face of workplace violence is changing.

“We are seeing a fairly sharp increase in the age of the perpetrator,” he said. While the old image of the violent employee was typically “a person under 30,” the greatest threat now seems to be coming from “people over the age of 40,” Barton told the Dallas Business Journal. The suspect who fired on two North Dallas office workers Monday was 60 years old.

The person to be aware of is the “grievance-based collector,” Barton says. This person probably is known to his or her employer or to the company that the person has a beef against.

In most cases, “they have already notified you,” Barton says. “They’ve written letters, they’ve sent e-mails.”

In situations where the letters and notifications cross the line to threats, Barton said employers should exercise care to take appropriate action by notifying authorities and assess overall workplace access and safety.

“Ignoring the person is the worst thing you can do,” he said.

A confluence of factors are currently making today’s work environment more unsafe, Barton added. Employee assistance program counselors who handle counseling for many workplaces reported in 2009 that their call intakes from upset employees rose 30 percent. Many of these calls were related to financial concerns.

Barton recommends employers take threats seriously—whether they are threats of suicide or of hurting someone else.

He added that suicides in 2008 rose 15 percent. Barton says employers shouldn’t scare employees by discussing acts of workplace violence. Instead, he says to keep them aware and make sure they feel comfortable about reporting their concerns.