Victim of assault

[Devon899]

Hi I was the victim of assault in my workplace. My coworker been suspended whilst it's been investigated. There is no dispute over the offence as he's admitted it (even tho he's accusing me of antagonizing him )

A week before the offence took place, he told our employer that he's struggling with his mental health (not been diagnosed by an expert and I don't disbelieve him as I've seen him struggling recently )


In a normal situation I'd expect him to be sacked after the investigation is done but due to him telling the company about his mental health could that help him keep his job

On the one hand he needs help but my safety and the safety of the other colleagues have to take priority

[Devon899]

Note.

Me and him were have a disagreement on a trivial matter at work, which didn't matter in terms of our work practice. He did a 'fake' punch (where he was threating me with violence)

Me in response told him "if your going to do it then do it"

Next thing I knew I got punched in the throat

[Devon899]

2 witnesses saw it. So no way of them disagreeing with the fact he punched me

1 of the witnesses was present with the conversation


My concern that he might be allowed to return to work

Where do I stand clearly I don't feel safe if he's there

[echat11]

I think it might an idea to check your employee handbook, their will be sanctions for violent conduct.

ULA Please can you take a look.

[Devon899]

Unfortunately this doesn't help

[Devon899]

Never seen one . I don't know if there was a general rule

[echat11]

Never seen one . I don't know if there was a general rule

Wait for ULA to respond, she'll be able to give perspective / context.

[ULA]

Sorry to hear about your situation at work.

Physical abuse in the workplace is often given as an example of gross misconduct which can lead to dismissal. However, it is not always a straight forward conclusion and certainly in this situation there are potentially two things that would, from my perspective, need to be investigated to ensure a fair process is carried out for your work colleague:

1. The mental health aspect for which your employer may want to get an occupational health report on this person.
2. The context of the altercation and your involvement in what happened.

Once this information is known then it would need to be considered in the context of a potential gross misconduct offence, alongside the liklihood of it occurring again and the safety of this person's co-workers in the future.

Ultimately if he does return to work then the company should consider that he works in another team, department, different part of the building from you etc. depending on the work environment. If you are still unhappy about the outcome then you would have to consider raising a grievance.

[Devon899]

Thanks ULA

He's been to see occupation health roughly a week before the incident.. (im not aware of what's been said in the report)

Me and him had a disagreement on a method of work. Neither my opinion or his opinion would of been incorrect. He tried to use the I've got more experience then you card and accused me of belittling him and antagonizing him. Neither were correct and fortunately there was a witness stood Inbetween us who's backing me up. From my employers point of view he's had countless falling outs with many employees and even if he was relocated to another team or department this wouldn't be acceptable from my point of view as next time he could easily have a tool in his hand and strike me with it

[ULA]

As part of the investigation statements should be taken from anyone who wiitnessed the incident as well as yourself. Part of your witness statement should set out any concerns you have for your ongoing safety as a result of this incident.

At the moment though until the outcome of the investigation and any potential disciplinary action is taken there is little you can do other than co-operate with any requests made of you in this investigatory phase.

Once you know what, if any, disciplianry action is being taken will be the time to consider what you need to do.