Operators: Anybody Ever Fired a Mentally Unstable Employee?

March 19, 2020

by a searcher from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - Kenan-Flagler Business School in Austin, TX, USA

How did you handle it? What precautions or steps did you take?

Scenario: Small company with 10 employees.

1 Like

13 Replies

192 Views

Replies

Reply by an investor
from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Dorset, VT, USA

Plenty. Build them up, give them dignity, be calm, have a plan and make it quick, almost like sweeping them up with nice words and pushing them out the door before they realize what happened. If you suspect violence then do it differently. Sometimes an email or phone call firing to a real nutter is advised. I remember being on lockdown one day because a fired employee told people he was coming back to kill us all. He never showed. Good luck

Reply by a professional
from Northwestern University in Southborough, MA, USA

Careful calling anyone mentally unstable or anything similar. Often these are protected classes and need to be cared for rather than terminated. I presume you are not an expert on mental stability, but you have some experience seeing that they are not achieving the objectives you’re setting for them. I’d focus on the latter as much as possible. Of course, employment attorneys are very important to keep close in situations involving terminations, and if you can sleep well terminating this employee and feel they are better served on unemployment or at another firm, then follow the rules, the law, pay them, see about getting them to sign a release, and then move on with your business and try not to hire someone similar in the future. Good luck!

+11 more replies.

Join the discussion