Case Studies with Questions and Answers
Chapter 12: Victimization at Work and School
A company on the west coast has recently burned down. The investigation of the fire resulted in a ruling that it was most likely arson. Accidental causes for the fire, such as poor wiring or failure of the sprinkler system to deploy, have been ruled out. The fire started in the boss's office early Friday morning before he had arrived for work. The only employees present at the time were a few who may have arrived early at work, the boss's secretary, and some housekeeping and maintenance staff. The fire spread quickly, and by the time the fire department arrived, roughly 15 minutes after the start of the fire, the building was nearly a loss. Nobody was hurt in the fire, but the building was a total loss. Investigations into company staff indicated that the company had reports of several individuals becoming disgruntled with their supervisor for mandating overtime the last six weekends. Several employees had quit after becoming frustrated with company policies and lack of appreciation as a result of the mandatory overtime. Upon requested meetings with supervisors, none of the employee concerns were addressed, and often the employees left without any attempt being made to rectify the situation. Several of the issues at hand were lack of employee background checks, lack of employee grievances being addressed, and low pay and lack of raises in past years. Knowing what you know about workplace violence and some of the possible causes, answer the following questions.