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Discussion Would you fire this employee?

hhg98

New Member
Hi all,
I apologize if this is an inappropriate topic to ask about. Please remove if so. I am a supervisor of my company's graphics department. For context, we are very small and I have never been in a supervisor position before. I was gone yesterday and came back to a less-than-ideal situation for lack of a better word. The other designer had messed up a vehicle graphic job pretty bad. He apparently had to reprint the graphics several times. The real issue is that our work table was damaged and our plotter was mysteriously broken (Graphtec 8600). It was clear to me that they were damaged in some sort of emotional outburst. When I questioned him on how they had become damaged, his explanation didn't make any sense. He said that material had jammed the plotter and that he accidentally cut too deep into the table. We have a self-healing mat over our table that's at least a quarter inch thick. One doesn't just "cut" through it on accident, so immediately I was smelling BS. It was completely cut through. The damage to the plotter was pretty severe. The entire motor was fried and the thing doesn't even turn on now. The part that we need to replace it is several hundred dollars and wouldn't arrive for a month, so we'll either have to buy a new one or be down for a month without a plotter.

I asked several other employees about what happened and they told me he was very upset yesterday and were not corroborating his version of events. I've already had several issues with the performance of this employee, so I was really beside myself with what to do, so I went to my boss and explained my suspicions. We scrubbed through security camera footage of yesterday and lo and behold, the employee was attacking the plastic cover on the table with a box cutter. Several hours later, he proceeded to rip material out of the plotter without lifting the lever. I was pretty shocked and concerned. In addition, he threw away several thousand dollars worth of material.

Would you fire an employee over this? How would you address the situation?
 

SignDesignLady

Always Learning
You have the footage to prove he was destructive. What an immature display, I'd be furious. I would sit him down and show him the footage then give him an ultimatum, he can pay for the damage he caused, and attend an anger management course, at his expense, if he wishes to stay with the company or choose to resign. If in doubt, discuss with your attorney.
 

DL Signs

Never go against the family
I've terminated people for less, and with no video evidence.
If an adult can't be trusted unsupervised, they need to go, period. Sounds harsh, but the only other options are risk it happening again (possibly being worse, or that rage turned on another employee) or hire someone to babysit, I mean supervise, and pay two to do the work of one. Hang on to that footage, and if the damage is enough, let your insurance carrier handle it, they'll often go after them if they feel they can recover damages. Can't believe how some people behave... He's lucky he wasn't here, with video evidence, I'd have him arrested for destruction of property.
 

gnubler

Active Member
some sort of emotional outburst.
Sounds like my sign shop. There's frequent outbursts in my shop and I've had to fire the perpetrator several times, but she keeps comin' back... (one person shop) :D

If I had an employee who caused damage like that, they'd be terminated instantly. And take all precautions...change locks if they have a key, passwords to any online accounts, etc. Don't deal with crazy if you don't have to.
 

JBurton

Signtologist
This sounds exactly like a guy I just 'lost.' Like, dude would not load the laminator properly, f*ck up a print, then just rerun the print without saying anything, then come up with some bullsht about why it had to be reprinted. His last month was spent with a weedeater...
I've had some annoying times with a graphtec 8600 and high dollar material, but I reserve my anger for things that are already considered trash, not my equipment.
 

netsol

Active Member
I've terminated people for less, and with no video evidence.
If an adult can't be trusted unsupervised, they need to go, period. Sounds harsh, but the only other options are risk it happening again (possibly being worse, or that rage turned on another employee) or hire someone to babysit, I mean supervise, and pay two to do the work of one. Hang on to that footage, and if the damage is enough, let your insurance carrier handle it, they'll often go after them if they feel they can recover damages. Can't believe how some people behave... He's lucky he wasn't here, with video evidence, I'd have him arrested for destruction of property.
'
"Sounds harsh" Real life is harsh sometimes.
fire him
 

netsol

Active Member
Sounds like my sign shop. There's frequent outbursts in my shop and I've had to fire the perpetrator several times, but she keeps comin' back... (one person shop) :D

If I had an employee who caused damage like that, they'd be terminated instantly. And take all precautions...change locks if they have a key, passwords to any online accounts, etc. Don't deal with crazy if you don't have to.
sounds like my shop...
 

pro-UP

New Member
I just hope when you fire him he does not comes back the next day with a gun. It has happened more times than not. But definitely get rid of the anger issue person.
That just reminded me of the shooting at the company that does the braille beads, Accent Signage. That was incredibly tragic. I worked in a shop where a guy brought in a bag of bullets with some of the employees' names engraved on them, guns, and other weapons. Corp was too afraid to fire him, but that was the end of the line for him. He was reported to the police, but they said there was nothing they could do. The days following his firing were very tense. Everyone thought he would show back up. It was scary.

@OP as a supervisor you are also responsible for the safety of the staff and that would include (imo) that the employee you described is fired. It may not take much for his anger to turn towards others. Please be careful, document everything, and stay safe.
 

ProSignTN

New Member
Hi all,
I apologize if this is an inappropriate topic to ask about. Please remove if so. I am a supervisor of my company's graphics department. For context, we are very small and I have never been in a supervisor position before. I was gone yesterday and came back to a less-than-ideal situation for lack of a better word. The other designer had messed up a vehicle graphic job pretty bad. He apparently had to reprint the graphics several times. The real issue is that our work table was damaged and our plotter was mysteriously broken (Graphtec 8600). It was clear to me that they were damaged in some sort of emotional outburst. When I questioned him on how they had become damaged, his explanation didn't make any sense. He said that material had jammed the plotter and that he accidentally cut too deep into the table. We have a self-healing mat over our table that's at least a quarter inch thick. One doesn't just "cut" through it on accident, so immediately I was smelling BS. It was completely cut through. The damage to the plotter was pretty severe. The entire motor was fried and the thing doesn't even turn on now. The part that we need to replace it is several hundred dollars and wouldn't arrive for a month, so we'll either have to buy a new one or be down for a month without a plotter.

I asked several other employees about what happened and they told me he was very upset yesterday and were not corroborating his version of events. I've already had several issues with the performance of this employee, so I was really beside myself with what to do, so I went to my boss and explained my suspicions. We scrubbed through security camera footage of yesterday and lo and behold, the employee was attacking the plastic cover on the table with a box cutter. Several hours later, he proceeded to rip material out of the plotter without lifting the lever. I was pretty shocked and concerned. In addition, he threw away several thousand dollars worth of material.

Would you fire an employee over this? How would you address the situation?
On the spot
 

Humble PM

Mostly tolerates architects
Well, y'all could have a reprobate like me workin' for ya'.
Whenever I ever feel like beating on something, I have one of my drum kits set up out in the shop.
And I'm not afraid to use it...
:rock-n-roll:
I have an old steel cabinet in my office that has many dents and boot prints. Cheaper than patching holes in the drywall.
 
Get rid of him, right away. Attacking the table with a knife (first off...who the hell does that...dude has major issues), ripping material out of a machine and tossing that much money in materials. Do not keep him because you are afraid of retaliation. If everyone does that we will be stuck with a workforce of employees that have us by the balls even more. Good employees are already too hard to find and you don't want this guy influencing or intimidating the others. I'd involve the authorities and show them the footage. Tell him you will press charges if he causes any problems and get him the fugg out of there.
 
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