BRATTLEBORO — In June of 1991, a workplace shooting took place about five miles north of where I worked in San Diego, Calif.
Two executives were targeted and killed. The company designed electronic components and had a stellar reputation as a wonderful place to work and a producer of great products.
I heard and read the reports and thought I understood what happened.
Not true. I heard the information at an intellectual level, but not at an emotional or heart level.
Six months later, on Jan. 24, 1992, two friends called me simultaneously. There had been a series of shootings at my company; one of our buildings was on lockdown, the separate reports my two friends heard gave no other information, and they wanted to make sure I was OK.
One person shot two people that day.
My colleague was 25 years young, a recent college graduate, and a labor negotiator. He died almost immediately. My 52-year-old friend and mentor was critically wounded and died too early.
And then - a week later - an engineer friend of mine from our same company, who seemed to like his work yet was having personal problems at home, left his worksite in the middle of the day, went to his car in the company parking lot, and killed himself. His coworkers I talked to were as stunned as I was.
Have you ever felt as if you were just catapulted into an alternate reality? This time, I heard and read the information on an emotional level.
I went from shock to denial, withdrawal to anger. I was was afraid of returning to work, even though the three deaths took place nine miles from my office. I either did not want to eat, or I ate and drank everything; I cried for weeks, had difficulty sleeping, and more.
At that point, I had never experienced the violent death of anyone - let alone three co-workers within a week. Now I was feeling these losses at a raw, emotional level and not just an intellectual level.
The emotions and behaviors that I experienced after the traumatic events were part of what is called post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). My PTSD came and went for a few years because working in the field of workplace violence prevention brought on the various symptoms as listed above. I was told that these reoccurring symptoms were normal, given the work I was doing.
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I am writing this Viewpoint to help you honor whatever you are feeling with regard to the recent local traumas, and to let you know that 20 years after my own traumatic experiences, I am still able to reach out to others.
And it helps.
Have you ever sought out new information because of a totally unexpected and/or shocking event? Throughout the processing of these tragedies, my stubborn Vermont upbringing would surface. How and why could an event like this ever happen? What were the causes? What were the effects? What would help to prevent these causes and effects in the future?
I began my research: reading, studying, and talking with subject-matter experts and survivors.
And, very arrogantly, I kept asking myself how I could stop further shootings from ever happening again at my 8,000-employee division.
The division had two-thirds the population of Brattleboro, spread out over a county the size of Connecticut, and part of a 100,000-employee corporation.
The stress at my division was rising.
About 4,000 of us were scheduled to be laid off in 1993, as half of the division was being sold and moved to Arizona. Initially, only 250 people were going to be selected to transfer to the new facilities.
My vice presidents asked me to stay in San Diego to give workplace violence prevention workshops to those who were not going to be transferred and who were seeking work at another company.
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Now let's fast forward to Aug. 9 of this year. Almost 20 years later, I once again received two phone calls from two friends within a short time period. There had been a shooting at the Brattleboro Food Co-op, and the only information they initially knew was that it involved two employees.
I had years without PTSD symptoms, and the phone calls triggered it again.
Families and friends on both sides of this tragedy are in pain. Co-op employees and volunteers, customers, suppliers, fellow businesses, and communities - along with their friends and families - are experiencing distress.
The human reactions to workplace violence are like the ripples expanding on a pond's surface when a pebble is thrown into the water.
And then the questions: Why? What happens now? Whose fault is it? Will it happen again some place else? How can I help? What can I do?
Just like 20 years ago.
It is my experience that two of the most important emotions and actions that we ought to embrace right now are grace and kindness - both for others and ourselves.
On our local BCTV station and the ABC national network news, I saw recorded interviews from throughout Vermont after Irene's floods. People who had lost their homes, businesses, land, and/or roads chose to leave their destroyed property and go help their neighbors. These acts of grace and kindness, in turn, helped the helpers to start processing their own situation.
We humans, as well as our animal counterparts, all want - consciously or not - to believe we have control over most parts of our life. The tragedy at the Co-op that many have experienced, the trauma and destruction that many have and still are experiencing as a result of Irene's damaging floodwaters, and the impact to the overall health of the economy and ecology in this country and worldwide can certainly increase our sense of lack of control.
Therefore, I believe it is helpful to proactively keep in mind these contributing factors that can lead to what the Department of Labor calls “workplace violence.”
For some of us, it takes only one factor to question our level of control over our life. For others, it could be a combination of factors.
If we are consciously aware of these factors, we can better recognize and then help each other and ourselves to regain the sense of control over our lives.
1. Economic/financial stressors, including fear of being laid off or fired; unexpected expenses (medical, child care, housing, or transportation repairs, etc.); or the layoff of another member of the household.
2. Societal causes, including violence on our television programs, in the movies we choose to see, and in the music we choose to hear, which can strongly influence our thought patterns. The causes can also tie into access to weapons or a spouse/partner leaving.
3. Institutional issues, including one's company merging with or being sold to another; the company moving out of state/country; the company closing; or an increased use of technology that results in either a potential inability to learn this technology or a lack of need for as many employees because the technology takes over the work.
4. Structural issues, including company downsizing or departments reorganizing; mandatory change of work hours (longer, shorter, split shifts), especially with little to no warning; and the flow of work that can result in lack of co-worker support and/or lack of leadership support.
5. Cultural issues: Workers lack a forum to address grievances. Threats of violence among and between people percolate within the organization. Creativity and new ideas are discouraged - sometimes by peer pressure, sometimes by management. Empowered employees and a voice in the decision-making process are lacking. Workers are treated with disrespect by co-worker(s), immediate supervisor, and/or senior leadership. This disrespect can manifest itself through bullying, mental harassment, and/or verbal abuse on both sides.
6. Management/leadership issues, including management whose styles are authoritarian, autocratic, or aloof; polarization between employees and managers; retaining employees whose performance has been poor for a long time; and ignoring employees' pleas for help, be it for themselves or their colleagues.
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The most important information I have learned about people who commit workplace violence came from law enforcement: co-workers, supervisors, colleagues, friends, and/or family members always, always, always know when an individual is troubled and in pain over the way(s) they believe they are being treated at work, school, or home.
This was true when the shooter killed my colleague and maimed my friend and mentor.
This was true when my colleague and friend committed suicide in the company parking lot.
Unfortunately, the people who knew something did not know how to interpret their observations, or whom to talk to about their observations. Or they did report their concerns, but the conversations did not lead to a positive, constructive intervention.
Raising these concerns can make all the difference: on Aug. 17, 2010, a Tampa, Fla., student was arrested for planning to blow up his former high school. Somebody knew the plan and tipped off the police.
Now, though, we can learn to be smarter about what to do and not do when we notice somebody's attitudes and/or behaviors increasing or changing negatively.
Now we can choose to learn more about workplace violence, how to prevent it, and its inevitable consequences throughout communities.
We have an opportunity to make a positive difference for a troubled person.