After TorchStone presented an active violence workshop for a corporate client, one participant privately informed TorchStone instructors that her ex-husband had recently used a weapon to intimidate her and her children. The employee described the steps taken to protect herself and her children, but she now recognized the need to disclose the violence to her employer.
While the TorchStone team was on-site, the ex-husband called the company’s switchboard, demanded to speak to the employee, and tried to reach the employee by contacting a coworker’s cellphone. The ex-husband stated he would be coming to the workplace if he were not permitted to speak to the employee. The potential danger to the employee, her family, and now the workplace was amplified because the ex-husband was an armed, on-duty law enforcement officer; he could easily gain entry to the workplace by showing his law enforcement badge to an unsuspecting employee.
TorchStone supported both the company and employee in communicating with the appropriate authorities, who assessed the threat to be real and immediate. TorchStone assisted the facility management and corporate security team in developing a structured plan to mitigate risk to the workplace for the rest of the day and for the immediate future. The coordinated effort prevented a confrontation at the workplace and may have saved lives. This situation demonstrates how TorchStone’s corporate active violence workshop increases awareness of behavioral red flags and empowers workshop participants to report potential threats. Had there been no presentation that day, the employee may not have felt empowered to contact the appropriate authorities and inform her workplace, which was unknowingly at imminent risk.
