Workplace slaying a wake-up call

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If Erin Sperrey was killed last Sunday by a man she worked with, as court records suggest, she is the first person to be murdered by a co-worker in Maine in at least 12 years.

It’s a situation that undoubtedly will be used by businesses and state agencies to examine whether there were any warning signs and whether her death could have been prevented.

Sperrey, a 20-year-old supervisor at Tim Hortons coffee shop in Caribou, was beaten and kicked to death last Sunday, allegedly by a recent hire who had a crush on his boss.

Christopher Shumway, a 19-year-old who grew up in Athol, Mass., was charged with murder two days later and is being held without bail at Aroostook County Jail. A

formal bail hearing is pending.

Sperrey did not like Shumway, telling her sister, Amanda

McKnight, that she thought he was “creepy.” Too polite to say no to his date requests, Sperrey instead made up excuses as to why she couldn’t go out with Shumway.

One time within the last month, however, she agreed to meet him. She stood him up.

What is not known is whether Sperrey’s bosses knew she was uncomfortable with Shumway’s advances before they scheduled the two to work the 3-11 p.m. shift last Sunday.

Also not known is whether Shumway’s infatuation became actions that could be viewed as sexual harassment.

Steve Smith, a Bangor attorney representing Shumway, did not want to talk to reporters about his client this week.

Nick Javor, vice president of corporate affairs for Tim Hortons in Toronto, and Troy Chamberlain, owner of the Caribou franchise, also would not comment this week on Shumway’s personnel history.

Tim Hortons has never experienced a worker-killing-co-worker situation.

“We’re still very numb about this obscene tragedy that happened,” Javor said. “Workplace violence, which is what this is, is very rare.”

On-the-job violence

Compared to other states, Maine has few on-the-job homicides.

Between 1992 and this week, six people had been killed as a result of assaults or violent acts while at work. Nationally, 560 people were killed just last year.

The Maine deaths were at the hands of customers or individuals who knew the victims, such as a spouse in situations where domestic violence spilled into the workplace.

But a death caused by a co-worker is an anomaly.

“In Maine, you’re far more likely to be killed by someone who loves you or loved you than by any other cause,” said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine State Police.

Because of Maine’s low rate of on-the-job murders, no one ever would have predicted what happened to Sperrey last Sunday.

“It somehow strikes us here in Maine that it’s something that happens someplace else,” said Dick Grotten, executive director of the Maine Restaurant Association. “Businesses are of two minds: that these are highly isolated incidences, and [that] there’s no way around it.”

Warning signs

It is still not clear why Shumway allegedly killed Sperrey. Police will not say whether robbery was the motive even though $1,200 of the store’s receipts was missing.

The attack started when Sperrey went into the shop’s freezer. Shumway followed, pushed Sperrey down, struck her on the head and took her car keys, according to a state police affidavit.

Once outside the freezer, Shumway told police that he apologized for his actions and gave Sperrey her keys back. Sperrey said she had to leave and the two struggled.

Shumway told police that he then started to strangle Sperrey.

“She was fighting for her life,” the affidavit quoted Shumway.

Tim Hortons vice president Javor said that he believes Shumway may have “snapped.”

“It’s just me talking, but when somebody snaps, how do you pick that up?” Javor asked.

Strange or out-of-the-ordinary behavior by an employee is considered a warning sign of a potential problem, according to Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood. Other signs include verbal or nonverbal threats, changes in an employee’s belief system, and lack of concern for the safety of others.

The Maine Merchants Association, which publishes workplace safety tips in its newsletter, also believes that unusual conversations should not be ignored.

“We’ve gotten down to the point of telling people not to overlook what appears to be petty workplace arguments,” said Jim McGregor, executive vice president of the Maine Merchants Association. “Don’t overlook them and tell the managers that they’ll work themselves out.”

Chitwood said he believes the “ultimate responsibility” falls on businesses to ensure that they have created and maintain a safe work environment. Nationally, more than a half-million people each year are hurt by a violent act, resulting in 1.8 million lost work hours and $55 million in lost wages, he said.

In Maine, approximately 210 assaults occurred in workplaces in both 2002 and 2003, according to the labor department. Many of them were in health care facilities.

“It’s the responsibility of every employer to provide a strong, safe and secure worker environment,” Chitwood said. “It’s up to the employer to do this not only for the employee but for the customer it serves.”

Too often, he said, businesses seek advice on how to improve their workplaces after a violent situation has occurred, such as a robbery, assault or a fight between two workers.

“Unfortunately it’s almost always a reactive approach,” Chitwood said. “This isn’t rocket science.”

Javor of Tim Hortons said the 40-year-old chain of more than 2,000 locations has zero-tolerance for workplace violence. He would not discuss the company’s security plans in detail.

“We definitely have established security measures and procedures in place,” he said.

Prevention

Fast-food chains or convenience stores have a higher degree of risk for workplace violence, which usually is brought on by a customer, according to Adam Fisher, spokesman for the Maine Department of Labor.

Other occupations or workplaces more susceptible to violent acts are ones with a high-degree of customer interaction, places where money regularly is being exchanged, where goods or services are being delivered, and where people work alone or late at night.

But fast-food chains and convenience stores also have a high level of employee turnover or they face difficulties in trying to find enough workers. That’s challenging when one of the most important steps in preventing workplace violence is taking time to screen job applicants, according to Chitwood.

For $25, an employer can contact the State Bureau of Identification, a division of the Maine State Police, and have a criminal record check performed. Local police departments also will conduct background checks for a fee.

“One of the best ways to avoid workplace violence is looking at who did you hire,” Chitwood said. “More and more I ask people if they checked the [job applicant’s] record, and they say, ‘well, no.’ More often than not you’re rolling the dice with these people.”

But businesses sometimes do not have a clear picture as to how much information they can obtain under the law about a job applicant, according to McGregor of the merchants association.

“A lot of businesses walk a fine line on how much they can dwell on somebody’s past life,” McGregor said. “There are more and more privacy issues about how much of a person’s private life people can go after. But as much as possible, they certainly should look at who they are hiring.”

Another step in preventing workplace violence is to create a policy as to what types of behaviors are and are not permissible. Most businesses have workplace safety plans in place and train workers on their importance. Some companies encourage workers who are experiencing changes in their moods or behavior to attend outside counseling programs.

“I suspect most businesses have policies in place,” said McCausland of the Maine State Police. “This day and age it would surprise me if a business did not have some policy in place. Or they should.”

Education regarding the warning signs of potential violence is another key to a secure workplace, experts say.

In October, the Department of Public Safety presented a daylong workshop for businesses, state agencies and social service groups to learn what they could do to create a safe and supportive business environment.

The focus was on domestic violence and what happens when it enters the workplace. In the Bangor area, most workplace assaults are domestic related, said Bangor Police Chief Don Winslow.

The last workplace death in Bangor occurred in January 1989 when Hampden resident Patricia Crowley was shot to death at her desk at Bangor Travel Agency by her husband, James Crowley, who then turned the gun on himself.

In May, the Department of Labor will present its version of a symposium on workplace violence and deaths. At this one, all forms of violence – from domestic to worker-on-worker – will be addressed.

Sperrey’s case may come up.

“We encourage people to attend this because it shows ways to prevent workplace injuries and deaths,” said Steve Laundrie, a statistician with the Bureau of Labor Standards.

Panic buttons

Sperrey’s mother, Johna Lovely, knows what she wants businesses to do to prevent workplace violence – install security devices including panic buttons, silent alarms that will alert police departments that someone is in danger.

“Had there been a panic button, Erin would have been able to push it,” Lovely said. “The first instance when he pushed her, she could have pressed the panic button to alert the police.”

Lovely is establishing a fund in her daughter’s memory to purchase security devices for businesses that employ younger workers. She also wants the state Legislature to make it mandatory that all businesses have security equipment in place to protect its employees.

Tim Hortons in Caribou did not have security cameras or a panic button alarm installed that Sperrey could have pushed to alert police that she was in danger, according to Caribou police.

Even if the silent alarm was there, police may have been slow in arriving, according to Lt. Michael Gahagan of the Caribou Police Department, who was one of the first officers at Sunday’s crime scene.

Most of the silent alarms in use in Caribou are installed at banks and they are pushed often, he said. Tellers either brush up against them or press them by accident. The same thing happens with the 9-1-1 emergency telephone system.

“A few years ago, we had 365 false alarms in a year,” Gahagan said. “We end up being complacent. People push it and it’s a false alarm and police respond like it’s not a real thing.”

Gahagan said businesses that do install silent alarms need to train their employees on when is the best time to use them, and police officers need to be better trained to recognize when the call is a false alarm and when it’s a sure sign of an emergency.

“One of these days it’s going to happen,” he said.

Lovely said she hopes that one of the panic buttons she is encouraging businesses to install is used during the next “real thing.” Her daughter’s death should be the last one to occur at a workplace.

“The first thing I said was I do not want this to happen again,” Lovely said.