Unemployment Raises Risk of Workplace Violence

A recent shooting at a Reno, NV Wal-Mart emphasizes the necessity for training of managers in the prevention of workplace violence.

From the article;

“In what may be the latest incident of workplace violence relating to potential unemployment, an employee who believed he was about to be terminated from a Wal-Mart Store in South Reno, Nevada opened fire on three supervisory employees at the store he had worked.”

What the article went on further to say dramatizes the need for training in workplace violence prevention. It was all a misunderstanding.

“Wal-Mart officials released a statement on Monday that there were no plans to fire Mr. Gillane. Police Chief Pitts said that it was clear that Mr. Gillane was not summoned to the store to be terminated as suggested in initial news reports, but his arrival at the store was unexpected, as he was not scheduled to report to work on the day of the attack.  Police did confirm that during his interview at the police station, Mr. Gillane did say he had “grievances” and may well have expected to be laid off or terminated.

It was unknown why he chose that day to confront the managers at gunpoint. Earlier reports had suggested the incident was related to a possible retaliation attack due to a firing or planned termination however as more and more facts become known, the motivations behind the attack remain murky.”

As the unemployment situation worsens, increased violence and misunderstandings can only be expected. The article ends with this chilling observation;

“More and more some unemployed are making statements which have been interpreted by some observers to be advocating violent reaction to not only the continued high unemployment but also the lack of a Tier V and continued concerns about the looming vote to regarding unemployment extension when the Congress meets again in Washington. Just last week, the Indiana Unemployment Agency announced that it was deploying armed security personnel at its state unemployment offices to guards against the potential for violence.”

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Tagged with: Attack Police • Grievances • Gunpoint • High Risk • Misunderstanding • Misunderstandings • Motivations • News Reports • Pitts • Police Chief • Police Station • Reno Nevada • Reno Nv • Retaliation • South Reno • Supervisory Employees • Unemployment • Unemployment Agency • Unemployment Extension • Violent Reaction • Wal Mar • Wal Mart • Workplace Violence Prevention

Filed under: Workplace Fraud

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