Disturbed Co-worker

[balances]

What is the name of your state? CA
We have a co-worker that seems to be suffering from bipolar disorder. For the past years he has been unpredictable and "annoying", but not really a serious threat.

In the past half year however, especially in the past week, he has shown clear signs of metal deterioration. He mostly manifests his anger towards the supervisor and some co-workers by leaving endless messages on the offices voicemail, addressed mainly to our supervisor, but also to others. This seems to be his way of communicating, harassing and threatening. His messages used to be annoying only, now they are getting really creepy and scary. (they are recorded)

We have reported him to the administration int he past (we work at a college) and asked them to help us deal with him. They have basically washed their hands of this and not helped us, by delaying, not responding, putting up barriers. They are now aware of him because he has begun to leave extended messages on the voice mails of campus police and administrators (Deans, the Chancellor...). He has also acted erratically at different parts of the campus and campus police has been informed.

He has NOT made any physical threats to anyone (he is too smart to do this) so we always get the same response that he can not be arrested.
Yesterday he was detained, asked a few questions to see if he is "of danger to himself or others". Campus police has determined that he is not, but he has still been placed on paid administrative leave until further notice, with instructions NOT to call anyone, leave messages, set foot on campus.

Here is my question: we are all scared of what this guy could be capable of doing. He is clearly disturbed and if he gets angrier and does not take meds (it seems he doesn't anyway) that his manic, psychotic behavior could deteriorate and cause him to snap. We are afraid for our safety at work as well as the safety or our students.

What can we do, if anything? We have not filed a police report (yet) and the college is supposedly now "investigating the matter". I don't yet know what that really means.

sorry for the long description, but I am at a loss and not really sure if I should worry or if we have any kinds of rights to find out more about this person.

Thank you!

 

[moburkes]

You can call 9-1-1 when something happens.

 

[CdwJava]

The people who are afraid can attempt to secure a restraining order from the local court. If they can convince a judge that he is a danger to them in some way, a court can order the person to stay away or cease certain behavior or face the potential of incarceration.

Unfortunately, being a jerk is lawful ... being mentally ill is lawful ... and it might be that until he actually crosses the line between jerkdom and criminality, there may be nothing that can be done.

- Carl

 

[quincy]

The guy sounds like he has a mental disorder, but he does not appear to be bipolar. Bipolars tend to be a threat to themselves but not to others, and they alternate between high highs and low lows (the low lows are when they are liable to commit suicide).

Not too long ago in Michigan, in a situation similar to yours, office workers - on whom a disturbed former worker had focused his anger - were put on alert, and only one door to the office building (the front entrance) was left unlocked. The front-door security had a picture of the guy, with instructions for a lock-down should he appear.

A police report (with a photo of the guy, if available) would be helpful so that the police responding to any emergency call from the offices would know better what to expect. There is no real way to protect yourself from someone who decides to go crazy, other than to be vigilant, however.

 

[balances]

Carl, I fear that I have to agree with you. I just hope that his "crossing the line" will not be an extreme fatal one for others.

We are actually meeting about getting restraining orders.

Quincy, is it possible to give me more information on that case in Michigan? Is there a link to the story somewhere? I've been trying to find similar such situations. Unfortunately, since we work in a college there is not one door only where a security officer can watch out for him.

What he is obsessed with at the moment is to sue everyone, perhaps even the college itself. It is completely unrealistic, but given his mental disorder (maybe you are right, perhaps it is NOT bipolar) I fear he will make all our lives miserable with this incessant obsession. And yes, at this point he is not yet breaking the law, just being an annoying jerk.

It is this feeling of powerlessness which is hard to deal with. On one hand you want to "fight back" and let the person know they can NOT do this, on the other hand, you don't want attention placed on yourself.

 

[quincy]

balances -

When I posted above, I remembered the case in Michigan only vaguely - it happened in 2005. A disturbed man had a year-long history of harassing employees at a local television station (WDIV in Detroit). The employees of the station had fears similar to yours - that this man might move from verbal threats and harassment to physical threats or worse. Security at the station involved keeping all doors locked and only "buzzing" people into the building from a glassed-in vestibule. The employees all had a picture of the man, and the receptionist had a picture of the man posted at her desk and was told not to let him in should he appear. The security system worked well, in that the receptionist recognized the man in the vestibule from his picture, and she contacted security. Unfortunately, before security arrived, an innocent former-employee entered the vestibule and rang for entrance. Although the receptionist tried to wave the employee away, the disturbed man pulled out a gun and started shooting. The former-employee was seriously injured, but survived.

The gunman was charged with assault with intent to commit murder, assault with intent to cause bodily harm, felonious assault, and using a gun in a felony. He was sentenced last November to 16-32 years in prison for the shooting and an additional 2 years on a felony firearms charge. (check April 15, 2005, WDIV shooting or John Owens

The particular security measures taken in this case can't apply in your situation, in that you do not have a building, apparently, that can limit entrance. I also do not know how severe the harassment from the guy in your situation has become. However, having everyone aware of what the disturbed man looks like, and alerting security and police if he should appear, could help to prevent any major incident from occurring.

 

[msiron]

What he is obsessed with at the moment is to sue everyone, perhaps even the college itself. It is completely unrealistic, but given his mental disorder (maybe you are right, perhaps it is NOT bipolar) I fear he will make all our lives miserable with this incessant obsession. And yes, at this point he is not yet breaking the law, just being an annoying jerk.

Wonder why he might want to sue? Could it be because his income/livelihood is being threatened, if not taken away.

He has not been determined mentally ill by an expert in the medical field.

He's has not broken any laws and you said it yourself, he's an annoying jerk.

He mostly manifests his anger towards the supervisor and 'some co-workers' by leaving endless messages on the offices voicemail, addressed mainly to our supervisor, but also to others.

Is there any merit to his messages?