The Aftermath of the Conn. Tragedy
Monday, August 16, 2010 | 0
By Julie Ferguson
Lynch Ryan & Associates
Aug. 9 was a day of remembrance for the victims of last week's
horrifying shootings at Hartford Distributors in Connecticut our
hearts go out to the family, friends, and coworkers of the deceased.
Their lives will be forever changed and imprinted by this terrible
event.
In chilling testimony minutes before death by his own hand, we hear the
shooter in the deadly rampage calmly relaying his motive to a police
dispatcher: "This place right here is a racist place...They're treating
me bad over here. And treat all other black employees bad over here,
too. So I took it to my own hands and handled the problem. I wish I
could have got more of the people."
Omar Thornton's murderous acts left eight coworkers dead and two
grievously wounded. The horrifying massacre brought to mind another
racially-motivated workplace-based mass murder, the 2003 shooting at a
Lockheed Martin plant in Meridian, Miss., which left six dead and eight
wounded. Unlike last week's shooting for which there were few if any
advance clues or hints, the killer in Meridian had left a trail of
violent threats and behaviors. Many who knew or had worked with Doug
Williams feared and even predicted that his threats would culminate in
some terrible event.
Whether racism was a trigger in the Connecticut case or not seems a moot
point. Even if it were true that racism occurred, as alleged by the
family of the shooter, that would not justify such a heinous and wildly
disproportionate reaction. Company and union officials deny the
allegations of racism and say that no such grievances had been filed or
were on record. Yet Thornton's call and the allegations will likely play
a factor as lawyers for the victims seek damages. If victims seek any
redress beyond workers compensation, they will face a high hurdle. When
litigation is successful at piercing the exclusive remedy shield, it
often involves employer misconduct that is highly egregious.
In 2005 and again in 2008, courts barred tort claims for Lockheed
victims and upheld workers' compensation as the exclusive remedy.
Plaintiffs felt they had a strong case and sued Lockheed on the basis of
having been deprived of civil rights. They cited a 2004 EEOC report,
which stated: "(Lockheed) was aware of the severity and extent of the
racially charged and hostile environment created by Mr. Williams, which
included threats to kill African-American employees," the determination
by the EEOC's Jackson office said. "(Lockheed's) reaction to those
threats against African-American employees was inadequate and permitted
the racially charged atmosphere to grow in intensity, culminating in the
shooting of 14 individuals."
We noted then and note again now that, while often an imperfect and
unsatisfying system, workers' comp generally holds up as the exclusive
remedy in such cases.
<b>Can employers inoculate against such events?</b>
While most workplace risk can be managed and risk mitigation strategies
can be adopted to eliminate or minimize hazards, when it comes to the
human heart and mind, preventive strategies can be less certain. There
are certainly best practices that can be put in place, predictive
profiles and warning indicators that can be consulted, and good hiring
and supervisory practices that can be enacted.
Connecticut attorney Daniel Schwartz has been following this event and
others on his blog. He recalled another terrible Connecticut event on
the 10th anniversary of the 1998 Lottery headquarters shooting, which
claimed the lives of four supervisors. Schwatz has revisited the topic
of workplace violence on more than one occasion, offering best practice
tips and resources for employer vigilance. In light of the recent
tragedy, he asks if there are any lessons to be learned from evil. He
concludes:
"Despite all the guidance and advice that can be given, the awful
truth is that there really is no way to prevent tragedies like this from
ever occurring. An employer can do everything 'right' and yet still a
rampage ensues by someone committed to carrying out a terrible crime.
That's not to say that employers should ignore the issue; they
shouldn't. But we also should be careful not to draw conclusions from an
incident like this too.
Indeed, as we look for answers from this tragedy, perhaps its best
to acknowledge that we can never truly understand what brings people to
commit evil and that despite whatever efforts we might make, something
like this will sadly happen again."
<i>Julie Ferguson is an independent marketing consultant in
the Boston area who writes for Lynch Ryans's web blog,
http://www.workerscompinsider.com. This column was reprinted with the
firm's permission.</i>
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