CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — The woman who filed a $50 million lawsuit this week against Walmart He said the company should have known about the gunman’s “long-standing pattern of disruptive and threatening behavior” and should have required him to undergo a mental health evaluation.
Another employee, who wished to remain anonymous, also shared her concerns this week about the gunman’s behavior. The gunman had worked at the Walmart location for 12 years.
Christian Connell is a Norfolk-based employment lawyer and is not connected to the case. He said that he believes the company might have required a mental health evaluation.
“If multiple people tell you, or if one person tells you that this individual has been threatening other workers, I don’t think you have to weigh up, I don’t think an employer is tasked with determining how much of the truth. There’s that, I think they could probably require that employee have a mental health evaluation,” Connell said in an interview.
A Chesapeake-based professional counselor said he has seen several cases where an employer required a mental health evaluation.
“(In one of them) an employee filed a complaint against this other employee, and after reviewing it they decided it was an anger management issue,” said David Martin, Critical Incident Stress Management Counselor.
If a worker refuses to undergo assessment and counseling, the next likely step is to resign or fire them. In that situation, Connell says the ultimatum could actually backfire.
“The double-edged sword is this: For any employer in this situation, firing can trigger behavior you don’t want to see,” Connell explained. “So if you fire the employee, he may come back and be angry about the firing.”
But experts disagree about how much information an employer can get from an employee’s mental health treatment.
“I think they can require you to have a mental health assessment and find out if the assessor thinks you’re fit to work there,” Connell said.
However, Martin says employers are severely limited in what they can learn from treatment.
“There is no requirement to report to the manager, just report that they complied (by attending counseling sessions).”
If during treatment the employee discusses specific threats, the employer and the police must be notified.
“If a person is harmful or can cause harm to others or to themselves, they should report it,” Martin said.
Walmart had no immediate comment on the lawsuit, saying it will respond in court.
