Have you ever dealt with workplace violence?

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Jayo
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14 May 2020, 9:00 am

Has anyone ever been a victim of or experienced workplace violence?
If so, what kind of setting was it in? Did you take action to address or redress it afterwards?

I had it once in my late teens, and once in my early twenties...the first time was in fast food, where the guy shoved me or checked me into the wall while making threats that I should leave before he kills me (he was quite clearly a sociopath, and he got fired for other reasons but possibly my complaint against him contributed), and the second time was a sales manager for some door-to-door cleaning supplies seller - he grabbed my arm more than once, punched me in the head, and threatened me if I didn't make a sale (when no witnesses were around), so I got out of there and complained to the police but it was my word against his. He was also almost certainly a psychopath/sociopath.

AT least one thing I didn't get was "the alpha wolf with the entourage" like in those teen bully movies, where the "leader" makes some disparaging comment towards the victim and the sycophants stand around going "woooohhh!!" (yeah, what an awful cliche, huh?) but I'm sure that's happened to others.

Here in Canada, in the past 10 years or so, there has been greater legislation passed to prevent workplace violence and they at least acknowledge a good part of the problem is a misfit victim who snaps after being tormented one times too many. While is why they also beefed up anti-harassment & anti-bullying legislation provisions. The trouble is, as I alluded to earlier, is that a lot of the perpetrators are sociopaths who could easily pass a polygraph or deny the abuse to a police officer or HR officer without breaking a sweat. 8O Especially since they already consider people like us "nothings" whose lives have no value anyway.



Meistersinger
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14 May 2020, 10:07 am

I once applied for a delivery driver position at a mom and pop pizza shop. I was called in for an interview, and walked right into a hornet’s nest.

It turns out that the owner did not pay their employees for over a month. When he did cut checks for payroll, every check bounced. One of the other driver and the owner stepped outside and got into a fist fight. It was rather obvious that didn’t want to be even associated with this place. The remainder of the staff that was still inside, I referred to my attorney, whose specialty is labor law.

I caught hell from mom for not accepting the job. She didn’t give a damn about not getting paid. She, like the rest of the family considered me to be a lazy no-good bum.



Jayo
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14 May 2020, 10:15 am

Meistersinger wrote:
I once applied for a delivery driver position at a mom and pop pizza shop. I was called in for an interview, and walked right into a hornet’s nest.

It turns out that the owner did not pay their employees for over a month. When he did cut checks for payroll, every check bounced. One of the other driver and the owner stepped outside and got into a fist fight. It was rather obvious that didn’t want to be even associated with this place. The remainder of the staff that was still inside, I referred to my attorney, whose specialty is labor law.

I caught hell from mom for not accepting the job. She didn’t give a damn about not getting paid. She, like the rest of the family considered me to be a lazy no-good bum.


...and she probably accused you of fabricating or exaggerating that story, just to get out of working.
Anything to avoid openly talking about the taboo of mental disorders - so the "lazy" label is a quick-and-easy cop-out to suit their self-serving image of the world!!
sigh...