The following article was first published on Shipman & Goodwin attorney Dan Schwartz’ Connecticut Employment Law Blog. It is reposted here with permission.
I recently learned about a company planning an active shooter drill that made my jaw drop.
Their plan? Stage a hyper-realistic scenario with fake guns, fake blood, actors playing attackers, and here’s the kicker: don’t tell employees it’s a drill until after it happens.
The thinking apparently is that this will give employees the “most realistic” experience possible.
If they go forward with it, let’s also hope they have their attorneys on standby because this is just a crazy reckless idea.
If someone at your company even proposes anything remotely similar, this post might save you from a legal nightmare.
When you deliberately create a scenario where employees believe they’re in mortal danger, you’re creating a workplace injury. Psychological trauma can be a recognized workers’ compensation claim.
Employees who experience panic attacks, anxiety, PTSD, or other psychological injuries from believing they were about to die will file workers’ comp claims. In droves.
And they’ll likely win, because the company intentionally created the traumatic situation. Unlike a real emergency where you’re responding to an outside threat, the company actively chose to terrorize its own employees.
Medical treatment for PTSD and anxiety disorders can run into tens of thousands of dollars per employee.
Multiply that by however many...
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