Employees got in a fight. I do nothing...right?

michelinas
Thu, 07 Apr 2011 21:58:14 +0000

A couple months back, we had hired 2 young men (both 19 years old) who were rooming together. They seemed to be good friends. We did, however, just in case, place them on two different shifts. Things were going well for about 3 months…Today, roommate #1 came in during his non-working hours and asked if he could speak to roommate #2. We initally said no, warning him that he should not disrupt roommate #2 during his work hours simply because they’re friends or roommates. He said he just needed the keys to the house, so we eventually allowed him.

The layout of the place is such that the employees share a room to change into work clothes, sign in, etc. The manager’s office is quite a distance apart, on the other side of the building.

Well, about 15 minutes later, roommate #2 walks into my office with a bloody face and a swollen eye. In shock, I asked him what happened. He told me that roommate #1 (the guy who wanted the keys) asked to speak to him in the employee’s room. Apparently, roommate #1 wanted to move out tonight without paying his rent (they were going to get evicted tomorrow morning). Roommate #2 got frustrated (roommate #1 is not an official tenant; he simply moved in in place of a previous roommate without the approval of the landlord), and I’m guessing things elevated from there. Roommate #1, by this time, had left through the back door.

We asked roommate #2 (the one w/ the bloody face) if he wanted to call his parents or if he wanted to call the police. He said he was going to call his dad (who, for some reason, has his son live by himself when he only lives 20 minutes away). We gave him the phone to use. His dad arrived, and obviously asked us what had happened. We gave his dad a brief overview of what I heard from his son. His dad said, “Thanks, we’ll see what he wants to do.” and left.

Obviously, there isn’t much that we could, or should, do. But just wondering - could any part of this situation come back and bite us?

We’re obviously calling roommate #1 tonight to not come back to work. How about #2? Let go of him, too?

We should try to stay out of this as much as possible, correct? Are we responsible for anything? They aren’t minors…but still pretty young.

Also, how would things be different if they were a couple years younger?