One hug. One dead co-worker. One workplace violence question for HR leaders

A boundary problem that went unaddressed

Court documents cited by KOMO News indicate that Peterson had previously told investigators she was not in a relationship with Sorensen and had “repeatedly asked him to give her space after he crossed boundaries as a friend.” That detail — a worker asking a colleague to step back — is the kind of signal that must be taken seriously by managers and HR departments.

According to the Issaquah Police Department in a Facebook post, Sorensen returned to the scene approximately one hour after the crash with a family member, and during subsequent interviews “made statements acknowledging that he struck the victim’s motorcycle while acting out of anger.” In text messages obtained from Sorensen’s phone, he wrote that his “blood is boiling” shortly before the collision, according to the Seattle Times.

Court documents also indicate that Sorensen told investigators he had texted friends in an attempt to calm himself before ultimately acting on his emotions — a documented window between agitation and action that, in a workplace context, represents the kind of escalation pattern harassment prevention frameworks are designed to surface early.

What the research says about workplace violence

Workplace violence doesn’t typically emerge without warning. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), a federal government body, publishes guidance on workplace violence warning signs that is widely used by Canadian HR practitioners. Its fact sheet on violence and harassment in the workplace identifies a cluster of behaviours that can precede violence — including an unreciprocated romantic obsession, escalating threats, excessive contact with a coworker, holding grudges, and a pattern of misinterpreting communications from colleagues. Critically, CCOHS advises that warning signs should always be read in context and that HR professionals should look for multiple signals and, in particular, signs of escalation — that is, behaviours that are intensifying over time rather than remaining static. HR teams are increasingly being asked to treat these signals the way safety teams treat near-misses: as data points that require a response, not a wait-and-see approach.

In Canada, employers have a duty under occupational health and safety legislation in every province to take reasonable precautions to protect workers from workplace violence — including violence that stems from interpersonal conflict between employees. That obligation extends to situations where a worker has made a complaint, however informal, about another employee’s behaviour.