"Triple Employee" Domestic Violence Cases Present a Unique Threat to the Workplace
Last Thursday morning, 31 year old mechanic Donald Geno reported to his job at Volushia County Fleet Maintenance in Daytona Beach, FL, likely believing it would be just another ordinary day at work. But all that changed when his co-worker Damian DeRousha came in to confront him regarding an alleged affair with DeRousha’s wife, who also worked with the two men but was not present at the time.
A brief argument ensued, then escalated, and DeRousha shot Geno multiple times, leaving his co-worker to die on the floor as he went outside to his car and waited for police to arrive. Although Geno’s homicide will likely not be recorded as a “domestic violence death”, it is the direct result of a possessive and impulsive action stemming from the perpetrator’s need for power and control in an intimate partner relationship.
Could this tragedy have been prevented? Did anyone in the workplace know about the situation before it exploded? Was there anything the employer could have done to mitigate the risk? Although these questions will surely be examined in hindsight, the practice of threat assessment and management offers us a chance to proactively avoid such outcomes and work toward keeping all employees safe through a process of increased awareness, careful evaluation, and thoughtful response to emerging situations.
It’s possible that there was no way to prevent the murder of Donald Geno, but each year, the lives of thousands of employees are saved through proper workplace threat assessment and management, so the effort is well worth an employer’s attention and investment.
In the world of workplace violence prevention, “dual employee” cases are a common occurrence. Often, the situation involves a conflict between two co-workers or a supervisor and employee, but the parties can also be current or former intimate partners that work for the same company. As a domestic violence threat assessment consultant, dual employee scenarios make up about one quarter of the cases I assist with, but on occasion, a case will include three employees, usually a current or former couple and a perceived new partner. Although some may refer to this as a “love triangle”, I prefer to call these “triple employee" cases because the term “love triangle” minimizes and romanticizes domestic violence, while falsely insinuating that all parties are equally engaged and participatory. The greatest concern for the third co-worker in these cases is that they will become a secondary or corollary victim, as either the sole focus of targeted violence by the threat subject, or the casualty of a domestic violence motivated attack on the primary target or the workplace in general.
Part of the threat assessment process is to determine who is potentially at risk, considering possible targets that can range from a domestic violence victim and their supportive co-workers, to customers and innocent bystanders in the event of an onsite attack. Therefore, it is important to determine if the employee subject has any known pre-existing grievances at work or if they have made threats regarding the workplace or anyone in it. If the case involves a third employee who the subject suspects of being intimately involved with the victim, those in charge of managing the case should not waste time debating whether or not the “side” relationship exists. The only reality that matters is the subject’s perception of what is happening, because it is that belief that they will act on, and threat assessors must try to anticipate those actions.
In a triple employee case, all identified or potential internal targets should be informed of their risks and resources, and each should receive a workplace safety plan that is individually tailored to them. Precautions should be taken to eliminate, reduce, or supervise jobsite interactions between the subject and the possible targets, which may be accomplished through schedule, building, role, or location changes and access controls (to ensure legal compliance, these accommodations should only be made to the preference or benefit of the target). Any opportunities for the subject to enlist workplace proxies, cyber-stalk, or professionally sabotage the other parties should also be identified and controlled. In many cases, I recommend getting ahead of the situation by separately meeting with all involved personnel to explain the employer’s workplace violence prevention policy, so that the targets understand the protections available to them, and the subject understands the consequences of violating said policy.
There are many other action steps that employers can take to mitigate risk in triple employee cases, but of course every situation and every employer is unique, so it is important to obtain the guidance of a subject matter expert in the prevention of workplace violence. Presage Consulting and Training specializes solely in the assessment and management of domestic violence threat to the workplace, providing case, program, and policy advisement to Fortune 500 corporations across the globe.
If we can be of assistance to your company, please contact us through info@presagetraining.com
