Category Archives: Workplace Violence Prevention

Chicago Hospital Ordered to Pay More than $10 Million Dollars to a Female Doctor and 6 Nurses who Filed a Lawsuit for Two Separate Harassment Incidents Including Being Choked by a Doctor, and Another Doctor who installed a Toilet Cam in the Women’s Locker Room

RISKAlert  Report #1073                                      Sept. 19, 2018                                       Chicago, Illinois

The former employees of Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago won a lawsuit against the
hospital after reporting that hospital doctors harassed them.  The Chicago Tribune reported that the hospital received
reports about violent incidents but did nothing.  The women accused the hospital of failing to act
when violations of the hospital own written policies were reported and then ignored

$7 million of the total amount was awarded to Dr. Caroline Ryan, an anesthesiologist who was choked and
pushed by Dr. Stephen F. Laga, in 2013. The attack was witnessed by several hospital staff members

and also by patients.  Dr. Ryan was asked by hospital administration to drop her report against Laga, who
had a “long and documented” history of violent behavior, says the complaint.   Laga was never disciplined.

The following year, a hidden camera was found on the toilet (Potty Cam?) in the women’s locker room where
women changed clothes and used the restroom.  The camera was planted by Dr. Robert Weiss, an eye surgeon
at Illinois Masonic, who viewed and possibly shared the content.
Weiss was arrested when the camera was
discovered. Although aware of his arrest, the hospital delayed suspending Weiss’ medical privileges
.

The women’s complaint also pointed out that the hospital had ignored previous reports of inappropriate
sexual behavior from Weiss.  The six women were awarded $1.75 million for violations of their privacy and
an additional $2 million for punitive damages. The jury was sending a clear message”, said the women’s
attorney, Jeffrey Kulwin.  He said he believes doctor misconduct has been tolerated because of the money the
doctors bring in to the hospitals.

Today’s verdict against Advocate sends a strong message to Advocate, and employers everywhere,
that violence in the workplace cannot be tolerated, especially at a place as important as a hospital
,”

LESSONS LEARNED:

1.  Having, and Enforcing a strong policy against workplace violence and harassment is a critical
     component of creating a safe workplace, no matter who is being violent against others!

2.  The hospital lost the lawsuit because they blatantly refused to enforce their OWN POLICIES! 

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#RiskAssessment                                       #CMSImmediateJeopardy                                       #HospitalViolence

A Hospital Employee at Kadlec Regional Medical Center came back to the hospital on his day off, threatening to kill other employees and himself. Other violent attacks on staff have also occurred recently including choking of a nurse in the ICU!

 

 

RISKAlert Report Updated: October 23, 2018                                                          Richland, Washington

A Hospital Employee at Kadlec Regional Medical Center came back to the hospital  on his day off, threatening to kill other employees and himself.  Other violent attacks n staff have also occurred recently including choking of a nurse in the ICU!

In a workplace violence incident on Oct. 18, 2018,  Kadlec employee Matt Ganz, 51, walked into the
hospital where he worked, on his day off and began talking to fellow co-workers about how he wanted to die by suicide and how he would kill others as well, said Lt. Chris Lee.

Several people called 911 to report seeing a man with a gun at the 270-bed hospital.  Richland police responded and were on the scene within a minute and a half. But Ganz was gone before Richland and Kennewick police along with deputies from the Benton County Sheriff’s Office finished searching the hospital.

Police continued to hunt for Ganz and officers finally found him about 40 minutes later on the 300 block of East Third Avenue drunk behind the wheel of his truck, police said.  He was booked into
the Benton County jail for making threats, for interfering with a health care facility and for driving
under the influence (DUI)

Kadlec Regional has experienced other incidents including multiple staff members who were hurt by patients, and it highlights the problem of workplace violence in healthcare. In one incident, a patient in the ER hurt 3 nurses, a doctor, and a security officer.  In another recent case, a patient in Intensive Care choked a  nurse, as she was trying to change his IV.

The nurse in question posted these remarks on Facebook, “Let me tell you, having a strong individual’s hands around your neck, the inability to breathe, let alone call for help, to the point where you can’t see a thing and can only hear an emergency “staff assist” tone going off, is one of the absolutely gut-wrenching, most terrifying feelings anyone could ever imagine. It didn’t help that it was preceded with the words “I’m gonna kill you.  Ashley Schade described in a Facebook post about the event that has now gone viral.

Both of those patients were charged with assault.

LESSONS LEARNED:

1.  Workplace Violence is still a major problem in healthcare, with most of the violent incidents
directed at nurses.  More needs to be done.

2.  Report every incident to management and increase staff  to avoid having nurses work alone.

THANKS FOR READING THE RISKAlert Report©

For more information and a free subscription:  write to:  caroline@riskandsecurityllc.com    We provide and certify the best Healthcare CMS All-Hazards Hospital & Healthcare  Facility Risk Assessments; Facilities Active Shooter Assessments,  Active Shooter Training and Tabletop Drills.

MAN AT SOCIAL SECURITY OFFICE STABS HIS MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER IN WORKPLACE VIOLENCE INCIDENT BEFORE BEING SHOT TO DEATH BY FEDERAL SECURITY OFFICER

RISKAlert Report Updated:  July 9, 2018                                                                                       McComb,  Mississippi

MAN AT SOCIAL SECURITY OFFICE STABS HIS MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER IN WORKPLACE
VIOLENCE  INCIDENT BEFORE  BEING SHOT TO DEATH BY FEDERAL SECURITY OFFICER

A 21-year-old Mississippi man, Branen Carter, went into the McComb, MS, Social Security Administration office with his mother and grandmother, and then he stabbed his mother and grandmother in the lobby before he was shot to death by a federal FPS (Federal Protective Service) security officer. 

The incident happened at 11 am, and the facility was put on lockdown after the incident.  Large numbers of law enforcement officers responded to the one-story brick building on the edge of McComb, which is about 100 miles south of Jackson.

Carter’s mother, Lee Anna Turnage, and grandmother, Ann Carter, were in stable condition at Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center, after what was reported as a family fight that turned violent.

Mississippi court records show Branen Carter was indicted in Marion County in December 2016, when he was 20, on two felony charges — one count of statutory rape and one count of sexual battery of a child between the ages of 14 and 16.  He pleaded guilty in May 2017 after the two felony charges were reduced to misdemeanors (WHY?), and he was given two six-month suspended sentences, which means he did not have to serve jail time. The attorney who represented him was out of the office Monday and could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Director of Communications for the Federal Protective Service, Robert Sperling, said that the FPS agency has a long history of using armed security guards at federal agencies it oversees. “It’s a cornerstone. We have officers in social security offices and most federal agencies across the country, such as the IRS,” Sperling said.

LESSONS LEARNED:

      1.  Workplace Violence can happen anywhere, and family disputes often spill over into
public workplaces.  This attack happened in the lobby of the federal agency.

  1. The FPS did an excellent job of countering the threat and probably saved the
    lives of both women.


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Find out more at   www.riskandsecurityllc.com .

#Stabbing     #WorkplaceViolence

19-year old Teen Victim Sues Michigan Hospital After Being Punched in the Face in the Hospital’s Emergency Room

RISKAlert Report Updated:  April 10, 2018

A nineteen-year old woman is suing Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn, Michigan after she was injured by another patient in the hospital’s emergency room. The entire attack was caught on hospital security video.

The video showed the woman, who was wearing a hijab head scarf, had just started talking to the staff at the ER desk, when, with 5 seconds, an older man came up behind her and started to repeatedly punch her in the head. The man who attacked her, 57-year-old John Deliz, had been dropped off at the hospital by police, after leaving a group home.

Police records show he was warned about harassing others in the hospital lobby before the attack occurred, according to The Detroit News.  Deliz admitted in court that that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia  and had not been taking his medications.

The hospital security staff immediately responded and restrained Deliz, who was subsequently arrested.

The lawsuit claims that “the hospital was aware of his condition as he was brought because he needed mental treatment. Instead of treating him, they discharged him into the ER waiting room,” her lawyer, Mr. Moughni told CBS. “Instead of giving him mental treatment, they put him back in the patient pool, thereby giving way to his attack.”
LESSONS LEARNED:

1.   Using the Emergency Room as a temporary holding area for behavioral health individuals
exposes the hospital to potential lawsuits and liability for any damage they might do.

2.   Behavioral health patients need to be isolated in a holding room and/or continuously supervised, and
not allowed to freely  circulate within the Emergency Room.

THANKS FOR READING THE RISKAlert Report©

For more information and more great content:  write to:  caroline@riskandsecurityllc.com
We provide the best Active Shooter and CMS Facility Risk Assessments, Drills & Training Programs
www.riskandsecurityllc.com   or   www.caroline-hamilton.com

Angry Iranian Female Shooter Shoots Three YouTube Staff Members in San Bruno, California Active Shooter Attack

RISKAlert Report Updated:  April 3, 2018

Nasim  Aghdam , a 39-year old YouTube user who was angry after access to her self-produced YouTube videos was reduced, drove 470 miles from Menifee in southern California to YouTube headquarters in northern California and shot three staff members with a handgun at the YouTube campus and then turned the gun on herself, inflicting a fatal injury.

Aghdam’s father, Ismail Aghdam said he had called the police, warning that she hated YouTube, and that he was afraid that she might be headed up to their headquarters after she went missing from her home.

She started shooting in a courtyard area and it appears she killed herself as law enforcement arrived on the scene.   She  was one of a handful of female shooters, and passionate about veganism and animal rights issues, and used her YouTube channel to spread her message.  She ranted online against the company’s new policies and accused them of censoring her videos and reducing their views.


She had complained on her website that “new close-minded youtube employees” had “filtered my channels” starting
in  2016, causing the number of views on her videos to drop. She posted a screenshot of her YouTube page showing that one video had received 366,591 views.

 

YouTube staff members were terrorized by the random shootings, and were searched before
being allowed to go to their cars and leave the offices.  It was the first major Workplace Violence
incident in a major Silicon Valley company and should encourage other companies to add more
security controls to their campuses.


LESSONS LEARNED
:

1.  A Workplace Violence Incident can happen anywhere and anytime!  Be Ready.

  1.  Lack of access controls (metal detectors) allowed a killer to enter the YouTube campus with a
    gun and shoot three staff members, injuring one critically.   Simple, inexpensive metal detectors
    could have eliminated this vulnerability.
  2.  Police did not respond quickly enough when they were called and alerted IN ADVANCE that the
    shooter might be heading to the YouTube campus.  She might have been apprehended on route
    during the six plus hour drive to San Bruno.


THANKS FOR READING THE RISKAlert Report
©

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We provide the best Active Shooter and CMS Facility Risk Assessments & Training Programs
 www.riskandsecurityllc.com   or   www.caroline-hamilton.com

ATTORNEY SHOOTS HIS TWO FELLOW ATTORNEYS AT PROMINENT LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA LAW FIRM’S HOLIDAY PARTY Updated: Jan. 8, 2018

ATTORNEY SHOOTING IN LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA – SHOOTER HITS TWO FELLOW
ATTORNEYS AT PROMINENT CELEBRITY LAW FIRM’S HOLIDAY PARTY

Updated:  Jan. 9, 2018

The Long Beach, Calif. Police Department named John Alexander Mendoza, 58, of Redondo Beach, Calif., as the man who shot his two colleagues, one died at the scene, and other was injured at the scene, on Friday afternoon, January 5, 2018.

Attorneys at the Perona, Langer, Beck, Serbin, Mendoza and Harrison firm   in the Long Beach neighborhood of Bixby Knolls, were attending the firm’s holiday party, when Mendoza entered the offices shooting.

Major A. Langer, the firm’s Managing Partner, 75, was killed and Ronald Beck, 64, was wounded in what police called a workplace violence incident.  After shooting Langer and Beck, Mendoza turned the gun on himself. The shooting occurred during a holiday party at the firm when others were present.

Mendoza had apparently been fired earlier in the day, but returned to the firm’s party.  On a report of an active shooter, Long Beach police officers swarmed to the office building. Believing an active shooter was still at work, police formed a small team and quickly went into the office looking for the gunman and any victims, according to a police source briefed on the incident. As they scoured the building, police reportedly came upon multiple groups of screaming and crying workers still hiding or trying to flee, but eventually confirmed the gunman was dead.

The firm has eleven offices in southern California and represented clients including Motley Crue, Pamela Anderson and  Tommy Lee.

Mendoza had worked at Perona Langer Beck for 10 years, said Michael Waks, a lawyer who also has offices in the same building where Perona Langer Beck is located in Long Beach. Mendoza specialized in workers compensation cases.

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#LongBeachShooting              #RISKAlertReport

RISKAlert Report # 840, Man Shoots Neighbor, Takes Body to His Lawyer

Dateline:  February 17, 2016

A Florida Man Shot his Neighbor to Death, Put the Body in the Back of his Pickup Truck
and Drove Dead Body to his Lawyer’s Office

A Fort Myers, Florida man shot his neighbor to death during a struggle before loading the body into the back of his pickup truck and driving it to a lawyer’s office, according to the News Press of Fort Myers, Marshall claimed he shot the neighbor in self defense.

Lawyer Robert Harris, said that John Marshall (the shooter), walked into his Fort Myers law firm claiming he had shot and killed neighbor Ted Hubbell in self-defense and had the body outside in the bed of his pickup.

The shocked attorneys called 911 and Marshall spent hours at Harris’ office before finally leaving
for the hospital around 10:30 p.m. that night.  Marshall had a swollen lip, missing tooth and what
appeared to be two broken thumbs.

According to attorney Robert Harris, JohDeath Investigationn
Marshall wrestled a gun away from neighbor
Hubbell and fatally shot him earlier Wednesday.
Harris said late Wednesday that Marshall will
not be arrested, because he shot in self defense.

Lessons Learned:

1.   Avoid fights with neighbors.

2.   If a fight seems unavoidable, call 911 and wait for police in a safe area.

3.   Do not transport a body to your lawyers office in the bed of your
pick up truck!

 

RISKAlert® is a publication of Risk & Security LLC
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62-Year Old Bumblebee Tuna Worker Killed in Oven with Six Tons of Canned Tuna

RISK Alert   Report #710 –  May 27, 2015

The Los Angeles District Attorney announced felony charges Monday against
Bumblebee Tuna’s San Diego Plant, alleging that a worker, Jose Melena,
entered a thirty-five foot cylindrical oven that sterilizes cans of tuna.  Melena’s
co-workers closed the door and started the oven.  The oven temperature rose to
270 degrees in the next two hours, and when the doors were opened, they found
the severely burned remains of Jose Melena.

According to District Attorney Jackie Lacey, “We take worker safety very seriously”,
according to a published statement. “Our goal is to enhance the criminal of workplace
safety violations. Although the Bumble Bee investigation began in 2012, this case
represents our commitment to protecting workers from illegal – and, potentially,
deadly – on-the-job practices.”

Bumblebee

 

 

 

 

 

Two plant employees, former Safety Manager Saul Florez, 42, of Whittier,
California, and the current Director of Plant Operations Angel Rodriguez, 63, of
Riverside, California,  with three felony counts each of an Cal-OSHA (State of
California ) violation causing death.

Both men face arraignment on May 27 at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center in
downtown Los Angeles.  If convicted, the individuals could serve three years in
state prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Bumble Bee faces a maximum fine
of $1.5 million.

Lessons Learned

1.   Strong safety controls should be put in place to protect workers in High Risk
Occupations.

2.   Employees should make sure that all employees are aware of the
company’s safety and security rules to prevent incidents like this.

 

RISKAlert® is a publication of Risk & Security LLC

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www.riskandsecurityllc.com

www.caroline-hamilton.com

 

Healthcare’s failure to address link between mental illness and violence putting lives in jeopardy

DATELINE:  JULY 28, 2014

Richard Plotts, the man who allegedly murdered a 53-year old caseworker at a suburban Philadelphia hospital last week by shooting her in the face, was formally charged with murder on Saturday following surgery to remove bullets in his torso.

According to Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan, police in Upper Darby, Pa., where Plotts lived, were aware of at least three mental health commitments, including once after he cut his wrists and once when he threatened suicide — but said such stays can last just one to three days. Whelan also noted in his press conference that Plotts had also spent time in a mental health facility.

Every week brings a new story in the media about murder-suicides, patients killing healthcare workers, random shootings and assaults.   We can read the new polls like the article on U.S. shootings in healthcare, as well as the recent healthcare crime study by the International Association of Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS) that routinely reports that violence in healthcare is soaring.

Not only in healthcare, but throughout the U.S., these random active shooter trends are increasing.  To see how much of this violence is related to severe mental health problems, we only have to look as far as these high profile incidents:

  • June 14, 2012 – Buffalo, N.Y., trauma surgeon shooting
  • July 20, 2012 – Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting
  • Sept. 16, 2013 – Washington Navy Yard shooting
  • Dec. 17, 2013 – Reno, Nev. urology clinic shooting
  • Jan. 22, 2014 – LAX active shooter incident
  • April 2, 2014 – Fort Hood (2nd) active shooter incident

None of these incidents were related to poor performance review, losing a job, and only one of these could be called “domestic violence,” but what they all have in common is that the perpetrators were all severely mentally ill.

Guns scare me.  Guns kill people by accident and on purpose. I never let my children play with guns.  However, as I analyze the elements of these shootings and dozens more, my bias is changing.  I think it’s less about guns and more about mental illness.

Healthcare and hospitals would be the one industry where you would think that people would be concerned about the state of mental health of their patients and staff. Instead, it seems like mental health problems are walled off by society, treated ineffectively, and violent tendencies (which sometimes make their way onto patients’ Facebook pages) are largely ignored and unreported by the clinicians treating them.

So it’s left to the security and law enforcement community to deal with these individuals who are paranoid, depressed, angry, frustrated, disappointed, hurt, confused, and, ultimately, violent.

Now that mental health has been re-classified as another medical problem, the money is flowing to the treatment centers and it’s covered by Medicare. But progress doesn’t seem to be either easy or effective.

Dr. Graham C.L. Davey, Ph.D. writing in Psychology Today in January said: “Many of those health professionals (GPs and family physicians) at the first point of contact with people suffering mental health problems are poorly trained to identify psychological problems in their patients, and have little time available to devote to dealing with these types of problems. This increasingly makes medication prescription an attractive option for doctors whose time-per-patient is limited—an outcome which will have all the potential negative effects of medicalizing the problem into a “disease.”

And that’s exactly what we see, patients who don’t take their meds because of the negative side effects and so they become isolated and increasingly violent.  The side effects are clearly pointed out in TV commercials, that you’ve probably watched.

For example, one medicine has side effects that include sexual side effects, convulsions, brain shrinkage, stroke, death, suicide, violent thoughts, psychosis and delusional thinking.

The increase in hospitals adding seclusion rooms, expanding the number of beds for psych patients, and the time spent by both law enforcement and security professionals  in dealing with these troubled individuals, may account for one-quarter to one-third of an organization’s security budget.

Many of the security risk assessments we do are focused on handling mobile mental patients, including the baby boomers suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia.

As violent incidents continue to increases in our society, our workplaces, and in our hospitals, we need to spend more time looking for, and demanding treatments that work and that are sustainable by the patients so they can lead happier lives and we can protect the rest of society, and our healthcare facilities,  from their potentially violent behavior.


http://www.securityinfowatch.com/blog/11598089/healthcares-failure-to-address-link-between-mental-illness-and-violence-putting-lives-in-jeopardy

Author:  Caroline Ramsey Hamilton

Since 1988,  Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton has been a Thought Leader in All Aspects of Active Shooter and Security Risk Assessment in both Public  and  Private  companies and organizations.  Specializing in Hospital and Healthcare Security. Hamilton is Certified in Homeland Security (CHS-III), Anti-Terrorism (ATAB) and Security Risk Assessment. As President of Risk & Security (www.riskandsecurityllc.com) she works with many hospital clients, and develops affordable risk-based apps for improving security risk assessments, and publishes the RISKAlert security awareness program.  She lives in south Florida with two beagles, a rescued kitty and (on weekends), 4-year old twins.

Reprinted with permission from www.SecurityInfoWatch.com

Psychiatrist Shoots Mental Patient who Killed His Caseworker at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital

Psychiatrist Draws Gun in Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital and Shoots the Mental Health Patient who Killed his Caseworker by Shooting Her in the Face.  Witnesses near the scene reported hearing screaming and gunfire, as suspect and mental health patient Richard Plotts confronted his caseworker, Theresa Hunt, and then drew his gun, and killed her.  Another bullet grazed a doctor, adjacent to the scene, but the doctor had a gun of his own, and he shot Plotts 3 times in the torso.

The doctor, identified as Lee Silverman, was treated was  treated for a head wound and released after being taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.  The shooter, Richard Plotts, of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania,  who had a long criminal record, was undergoing surgery Thursday night at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. If he survives, he will be charged Friday with murder,  said Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan.

There is a Lesson Here KEEP POTENTIAL SHOOTERS WITH WEAPONS OUT OF HOSPITALS.

A is for Access Control!  Once a potential shooter brings a weapon into a hospital, everything is much more difficult to control.  Keep them out.

Weapons should be checked at the hospital entry points and no-weapons signage should clearly indicate that weapons are not allowed, and that should be followed up with either stand-alone, or wand metal detectors which give staff members a initial level of protection.

usa-shooting-pennsylvania

Bernice Ho, a spokeswoman for Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, said Thursday it was against hospital policy for anyone other than security guards to carry weapons, so there are questions about why this doctor disregarded the policy, although Donald Molineux, chief of the Yeadon Police Department, said “If Silverman returned fire and wounded Plotts, he without a doubt saved lives.”

District Attorney Whelan described how the meeting among Plotts, Silverman, and Hunt abruptly took a violent turn.  Plotts and Hunt went to Silverman’s third-floor office shortly before 2:30 p.m., Whelan said. Plotts was apparently armed, and people near the room soon heard shouting.

Concerned, a hospital employee “actually opened the door, saw him pointing a gun at the doctor,” Whelan said. The worker shut the door quietly and immediately called 911.     Plotts then opened fire.  According to Whelan, he shot Hunt two times in the face. The psychiatrist then ducked under his desk, retrieved his gun, and came up shooting, striking Plotts three times.

Keep Weapons Out of the Hospital to Dramatically Reduce Violent Incidents!