Case Study - “A Threat”

Author :Channagiri

The Incident

A top executive of a major company telephoned the Director of Security and explained that he had just received a threatening message. The message was constructed from words and letters cut out of a magazine and glued to a piece of paper. The message indicated that the executive would be killed. Later, the same executive received a dead cockroach taped to an index card with a straight pin through the body. The message written on the card was, “ . . . This could be you . . . ”.




Incident Response

The Company’s president, Director of Security, and Corporate Counsel immediately conferred and reviewed the facts regarding the situation and developed a course of action. They concluded that other law enforcement agencies should be brought into the case. They also decided that special physical security measures must be taken immediately to protect the executive.


Investigation

The Company had a total population of over 21,000 people, which included employees, visitors, and guests. The executive could not narrow the list of suspects. Over the next several months, the executive received numerous unsolicited items in the mail at his office and home. The U.S. Postal Inspector was contacted to assist in the case. The original requests for the unsolicited items were retrieved and handwriting samples obtained. The investigator compared the sample with thousands of notes and documents written by employees.


Approximately a year later, several employees expressed concern over receiving harassing unsolicited items in the mail. The original requests were obtained and it was concluded that they were made by the same individual. The employees were asked to list the individuals that they believed to be the most likely suspect. One name appeared on all the lists. The investigator obtained previously prepared handwritten documents and the handwriting appeared to be that of the same person. The information was turned over to a special investigative team with another law enforcement agency who brought the individual in for questioning. The individual denied writing the threatening notes or being responsible for the harassing mail. Finally, the individual relented and provided the handwriting samples, then returned to his desk at his office where he then committed suicide. The suicide note explained why the harassing mail and threatening note were sent. The individual also explained in the suicide note that he had never met the executive or even knew what he looked like.


Conclusion

Although it cannot be determined if anything could have changed the outcome of this tragic event, there are many lessons that can be learned that may avert future incidents.


Lessons Learned

  1. The Company was faced with heavy competition and was downsizing. Employees were being asked to do more with less. Some incidents of workplace violence involve companies that are downsizing or that have recently done so.
  2. The employee was dedicated and hard working, and proud of his work. Employees who commit workplace violence are not always underachievers.
  3. Many times top executives become the target of a disgruntled employee because they are seen as the company or corporate image.
  4. It is important to actively pursue cases of workplace violence.
  5. Once the person is identified, immediate action should be taken to assess his or her actions.
  6. If an incident does occur, it is important to consider all victims and their families. Use the services of a priest or clergy. Decide how you are going to inform co-workers. 

Practice Exercises

“The Unhappy Customer”


Your job in this Department is to assist recipients of substance abuse grants. It involves working with customers face-to-face each day. Since there are many recipients of these grants, it is impossible to know all of them personally. Due to recent budget cuts, some of the grantees have been eliminated. 

Some of the discontinued recipients have been calling you. They are extremely upset and have even screamed at you. One even threatened to get even since you ruined his life. You ignore these calls and threats, attributing the behavior to the situation of losing their livelihoods. In fact, you actually feel sorry for them and decide you would also be upset if you lost your program.

One morning, you are sitting in your office and a man bursts in and starts waving a gun at you. You do not recognize him. He starts screaming, “It’s time to get even and don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about!” 

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:

  1. Detail what you would do in this situation.
  2. Could this situation have been prevented? If so, what are some of the preventative actions you and your Department could have taken? 

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