When Employee Violence Walks Through Your Door

When Employee Violence Walks Through Your Door

From 21 Hats Podcast by 21 Hats

May 19, 2026 · 49 min · Episode 294

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of employee violence on business owners and the complexities of responsibility in such situations.

Michelle Wyatt has replayed the events in her mind countless times, looking for warning signs she might have missed. But even now, she can’t find any. Both employees had passed background checks and drug tests. Both were considered trusted, valued members of the team. And yet, within a span of months, two violent incidents involving employees left Michelle and her company reeling. In this week’s conversation, Michelle joins Jay Goltz, who has dealt with employee violence in his own business, and special guest Sandy Kapell, who’s made a career leading human resources, to wrestle with a question that haunts a lot of business owners: How much responsibility can you reasonably bear for the actions of your employees? The discussion goes beyond hiring practices and background checks. Michelle talks candidly about the grief her team experienced, the guilt of wondering whether she should have seen something sooner, the relief that the violence didn’t occur aboard her riverboat cruise ship, and the unsettling realization that no amount of experience truly prepares you for something like this. “Please stop torturing yourself,” Jay tells Michelle. “From what you've said, there's just…

People in this episode

Host: Jay Goltz

Guests: Michelle Wyatt, Sandy Kapell

Topics covered

  • employee violence
  • business responsibility
  • human resources
  • grief in the workplace
  • hiring practices

Keywords

  • employee violence
  • business responsibility
  • human resources
  • background checks
  • workplace grief

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