Assaulted by Colleague

JackFlash2017

Hi, looking for some advice on what steps to take here.

A family member works in a store. A colleague of his "reportedly" suffers from/has been diagnosed with a mental health disorder. As a result, their mood is often unstable and often has what can best be described as "mood issues". That's not meant to offend anyone, just my best way of wording it. This often makes my relatives work difficult given their close interaction, but he gets on with it without ever complaining - either formally or informally. Management are aware of his "issues", and try do to the right thing by everyone and keep everyone appeased which has mostly been the case.

A scheduling conflict over the holiday period meant that this colleague had a day's leave taken off him as my relative had it booked first. The colleague lied when he tried to take the day off by telling management that my relative had offered to work that day instead. When this came to management's attention, they told the colleague that he would have to work that day instead.

The colleague came down to the floor and had a "tantrum" - throwing items on the floor and said he quit. He approached my relative, made an aggressive comment relating to the scheduling issue, and punched him in the ribs. He's much bigger than my relative, who would never fight back anyway as he's very professional and not a violent person in any way. This was completely out of the blue - my relative did/said nothing to provoke him - this was purely the colleague being angry and resentful over having his annual leave refused.

Today, the colleague showed up for work as normal as if nothing happened, and made no apology or reference to what happened. When my relative appraoched management, they said they had reviewed CCTV, saw the incident, and told my relative that the colleague would be "watched closely". As far as I'm concerned, the time for "watching closely" is well and truly passed after an assault has taken place.

I've read through similar threads, and a question that gets asked a lot is "what outcome do you want here OP?"

The outcome my relative would like is to no longer have to work with this colleague - obviously he doesn't feel safe there anymore. Whether he is dismissed completely or moved to a different area, my relative doesn't want to have to work with someone who has done this before.

The preference is not to pursue the company for not providing a safe environment, as he is friendly with management and knows that it was a misguided attempt at trying to keep everyone happy that led to this incident. I know, they failed miserably there, but he has good relations with the management so preferably that's avoidable.

If the company don't dismiss/relocate the colleague, is his only option thus to take action against the company for not disciplining the colleague?

In terms of a civil case for assault, can he himself ask for the CCTV footage or would he have to request this through a solicitor? I assume a Garda report should be made ASAP - would they look for the CCTV footage also?

Thanks for any advice

MOD
So you have been reading thru "a lot" of threads, but this appears as your very first post?
Closed for mods' review

Colonel Claptrap

Were the gardai involved at any stage? I think they should be.

I wonder if the employer has a duty of care to provide a safe work environment. If your relative threatened to stay at home until the matter is resolved, it could force the issue. After all, the employer is keen to keep a 'everybody is happy here' atmosphere.