Fired Worker Wouldn't Leave
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 8:07 am
Last week we had to let a warehouse worker go for poor work performance. He had actually been written up multiple times, been verbally counseled, etc. Just couldn't get right. He wasn't actually my employee but his VP was gone and when he started started acting aggressive during the firing process his manager sent someone to come get me so she could have someone from our senior business team there.
Mistake number one was the guy that came and got me didn't tell me what was going on. Just that I was needed downstairs urgently. Luckily things had not dissolved too far when I walked downstairs. When I approached the situation I didn't actually know what was going on. The soon to be EX employee was being talked to, and I knew we were having trouble with him, so I assumed it was some kind of negative encounter. As I'm approaching I hear him mention something about his VP that wasn't there and the manager of our international department. I didn't quite catch what. About five seconds after I walk up I see him removing his keys to our facility off of his key chain and I understand what's going on. He starts yelling about how he is going to file a complaint and how he's been treated unfairly, etc. I'm not too concerned at this point because he is moving towards the door, but just making a big show out of leaving. Therefore I'm just hanging in the back and observing. He says goodbye to a few people even though his manager is telling him to leave, basically stalling. Mistake number two was I should have turned to another manager that was there and tell her to please go call the police and let them know we had an employee that was not leaving after being fired. He finally goes out to his car and appears to be leaving. This is about 3-5 minutes after I walked up.
As he's out in his messing around in his car, I'm watching him though a bay door. Now I realize he was again stalling. I ask his manager what he was saying about the two VP and manager he mentioned earlier and she said that he made the comment "they need to watch their back." I ask her if she made it clear to him that he was not allowed back on our property and she confirms that she did. I"m still watching him and I see him messing around in his car, he takes something out, fiddles with his shirt, and then starts heading back into the building at a good clip towards the office of the manager he said "needed to watch her back."
I'm no longer in observation mode. He ha actually covered the ground to her office in such a way that he had a good head start on me but at this point I'm running to catch up. Mistake number three, still nobody has called the police, but at this point my goal is to get between him and this person who he threatened. I walk into the office and he's saying something to her and honestly I didn't catch what it was, I guess I had a little bit of tunnel vision going. She's actually looking at her monitor and trying to ignore him. I walk in behind him, between him and her, put my hand up about a half an inch in front of his chest with an open palm and tell him "you need to leave now." I did raise my voice in order to overcome his yelling so that everyone in the office heard me say that he needed to go. He immediately backs out of her office and starts focusing his attention on me and how I can't touch him (I didn't) and that he's not afraid to fight me. I remain calm but elevate my voice enough, again, so that everyone can hear me say that he needs to leave. No matter what he says my only reply is "You need to leave" over and over. This goes on for about a minute and he won't stop so I calmly tell him "Randy, I understand you're having a bad day. However if you don't leave right now, it's going to get a lot worse." This finally turns him and he starts heading back out to the warehouse. Now he's started calling me a racist which I actually laughed at when he said it. I guess since that gave him a reaction he keyed in on that and from that point on the entire thing was about me, how I was a racist, and how I can't touch him. The reason I laughed is because of how preposterous I thought his statement was. The guy didn't work for me and I've barely had any conversation with him past the usual salutations. In which I've always been polite. I finally turn to the assistant manager that was there and ask if she's called the police. She hasn't and I tell her to do so.
Anyway he is now leaving and still ranting. I'm still saying "You need to leave." At this point he has a few more words with another VP that's now walked up and he gets in his car and leaves.
The police show up about 5-10 minutes later with about three cars. I actually see this from upstairs and don't notice it until two are leaving. So I walk downstairs and the cop is speaking with the other VP that spoke to the now ex-employee at the end and is basically saying since the guy didn't threaten anyone to their face in a clear manner that no crime has been committed and he can't take a report. I speak up from the doorway and say that he told me that he wanted to fight me, challenged me to a fight, and said that he can take me after being told to leave the premises. The cops smiles and says "we got a victim!" and asks me for ID. Now hears where some may disagree with me. I am carrying my Glock 23 in an IWB CTAC holster, however I just show him my driver's license. The reason being was that I was in my place of business, not public, and that our warehouse manager was in the room and he would tell everyone that I carry a gun. Say what you will but even though it's not against the rules, I'm not going to advertise it. The cop never runs my license just takes my information down on the report, gives us a case number and leaves. He says if the guy comes back to give us a call and that he'll make sure that it's in the call notes that if he shows back up he's been made aware that he's not welcome and to arrest him.
So a few hours go by and the guy actually shows back up! I get a call that he has pulled into the parking lot and head downstairs. Instead of going to way I usually go I head through the warehouse and come in a back door that nobody uses and lock it behind me (door knob lock that gets accidentally locked all the time, had anyone tried to come in from the warehouse and it was locked they wouldn't think anything of it). I peak around the corner and see him coming in through our show room and into the hallway of the office. He has something black in his hand that is away from me so I pull my pistol but just hold it at my side. He walks over to the manager's office throws the object (turned out to be a company issued phone) on her desk and walks back out to the warehouse. I re-holster and walk out through the door I was by. I actually don't think he ever saw me. He says something for about five seconds to one of our employees and leaves.
The female manager who was threatened has her dad coming to meet her for lunch who is a high ranking Game Warden. He shows up unfortunately about 30 seconds after the ex employee leaves. He finds out what's been going on and the wheels of justice get a little grease. I'm not sure what happened but I'm told the guy was approached by HPD and at least interviewed.
The biggest mistake is one that was carried out by the temp agency that send him to us and we eventually hired him from. It turns out this guy was a multiple felon, had served seven years in a New York State correctional facility, and was basically a career criminal up until about eight years ago. We find this out from the cops who tell us we should start doing background checks. We say that we do (WE DO!) but that this guy came from a temp agency who also does them and we were told he was good to go. The mistake was that we took their word for it. We inquire but never get a straight answer how this happened and we just let them know that they will never be sending us another temp. They say they understand and apologize.
He's called about a paycheck since but as far as we know he hasn't been back.
Stay alert and stay calm out there!
Mistake number one was the guy that came and got me didn't tell me what was going on. Just that I was needed downstairs urgently. Luckily things had not dissolved too far when I walked downstairs. When I approached the situation I didn't actually know what was going on. The soon to be EX employee was being talked to, and I knew we were having trouble with him, so I assumed it was some kind of negative encounter. As I'm approaching I hear him mention something about his VP that wasn't there and the manager of our international department. I didn't quite catch what. About five seconds after I walk up I see him removing his keys to our facility off of his key chain and I understand what's going on. He starts yelling about how he is going to file a complaint and how he's been treated unfairly, etc. I'm not too concerned at this point because he is moving towards the door, but just making a big show out of leaving. Therefore I'm just hanging in the back and observing. He says goodbye to a few people even though his manager is telling him to leave, basically stalling. Mistake number two was I should have turned to another manager that was there and tell her to please go call the police and let them know we had an employee that was not leaving after being fired. He finally goes out to his car and appears to be leaving. This is about 3-5 minutes after I walked up.
As he's out in his messing around in his car, I'm watching him though a bay door. Now I realize he was again stalling. I ask his manager what he was saying about the two VP and manager he mentioned earlier and she said that he made the comment "they need to watch their back." I ask her if she made it clear to him that he was not allowed back on our property and she confirms that she did. I"m still watching him and I see him messing around in his car, he takes something out, fiddles with his shirt, and then starts heading back into the building at a good clip towards the office of the manager he said "needed to watch her back."
I'm no longer in observation mode. He ha actually covered the ground to her office in such a way that he had a good head start on me but at this point I'm running to catch up. Mistake number three, still nobody has called the police, but at this point my goal is to get between him and this person who he threatened. I walk into the office and he's saying something to her and honestly I didn't catch what it was, I guess I had a little bit of tunnel vision going. She's actually looking at her monitor and trying to ignore him. I walk in behind him, between him and her, put my hand up about a half an inch in front of his chest with an open palm and tell him "you need to leave now." I did raise my voice in order to overcome his yelling so that everyone in the office heard me say that he needed to go. He immediately backs out of her office and starts focusing his attention on me and how I can't touch him (I didn't) and that he's not afraid to fight me. I remain calm but elevate my voice enough, again, so that everyone can hear me say that he needs to leave. No matter what he says my only reply is "You need to leave" over and over. This goes on for about a minute and he won't stop so I calmly tell him "Randy, I understand you're having a bad day. However if you don't leave right now, it's going to get a lot worse." This finally turns him and he starts heading back out to the warehouse. Now he's started calling me a racist which I actually laughed at when he said it. I guess since that gave him a reaction he keyed in on that and from that point on the entire thing was about me, how I was a racist, and how I can't touch him. The reason I laughed is because of how preposterous I thought his statement was. The guy didn't work for me and I've barely had any conversation with him past the usual salutations. In which I've always been polite. I finally turn to the assistant manager that was there and ask if she's called the police. She hasn't and I tell her to do so.
Anyway he is now leaving and still ranting. I'm still saying "You need to leave." At this point he has a few more words with another VP that's now walked up and he gets in his car and leaves.
The police show up about 5-10 minutes later with about three cars. I actually see this from upstairs and don't notice it until two are leaving. So I walk downstairs and the cop is speaking with the other VP that spoke to the now ex-employee at the end and is basically saying since the guy didn't threaten anyone to their face in a clear manner that no crime has been committed and he can't take a report. I speak up from the doorway and say that he told me that he wanted to fight me, challenged me to a fight, and said that he can take me after being told to leave the premises. The cops smiles and says "we got a victim!" and asks me for ID. Now hears where some may disagree with me. I am carrying my Glock 23 in an IWB CTAC holster, however I just show him my driver's license. The reason being was that I was in my place of business, not public, and that our warehouse manager was in the room and he would tell everyone that I carry a gun. Say what you will but even though it's not against the rules, I'm not going to advertise it. The cop never runs my license just takes my information down on the report, gives us a case number and leaves. He says if the guy comes back to give us a call and that he'll make sure that it's in the call notes that if he shows back up he's been made aware that he's not welcome and to arrest him.
So a few hours go by and the guy actually shows back up! I get a call that he has pulled into the parking lot and head downstairs. Instead of going to way I usually go I head through the warehouse and come in a back door that nobody uses and lock it behind me (door knob lock that gets accidentally locked all the time, had anyone tried to come in from the warehouse and it was locked they wouldn't think anything of it). I peak around the corner and see him coming in through our show room and into the hallway of the office. He has something black in his hand that is away from me so I pull my pistol but just hold it at my side. He walks over to the manager's office throws the object (turned out to be a company issued phone) on her desk and walks back out to the warehouse. I re-holster and walk out through the door I was by. I actually don't think he ever saw me. He says something for about five seconds to one of our employees and leaves.
The female manager who was threatened has her dad coming to meet her for lunch who is a high ranking Game Warden. He shows up unfortunately about 30 seconds after the ex employee leaves. He finds out what's been going on and the wheels of justice get a little grease. I'm not sure what happened but I'm told the guy was approached by HPD and at least interviewed.
The biggest mistake is one that was carried out by the temp agency that send him to us and we eventually hired him from. It turns out this guy was a multiple felon, had served seven years in a New York State correctional facility, and was basically a career criminal up until about eight years ago. We find this out from the cops who tell us we should start doing background checks. We say that we do (WE DO!) but that this guy came from a temp agency who also does them and we were told he was good to go. The mistake was that we took their word for it. We inquire but never get a straight answer how this happened and we just let them know that they will never be sending us another temp. They say they understand and apologize.
He's called about a paycheck since but as far as we know he hasn't been back.
Stay alert and stay calm out there!