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The Corporate Counsel Center of Northwestern University School of Law and the Isaac Ray Center of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center hosted "Preventing Violence in the Workplace, a Seminar on Risk Management," on Nov. 9 at the Law School. This interdisciplinary seminar brought together leading experts to provide practical legal and behavioral advice to human resource, management, law, security, and mental health professionals.

Each day in the American workplace, thousands of employees are harassed, intimidated, threatened, and verbally or physically assaulted. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, homicide is the second leading cause of fatal occupational injury in the United States. Nearly 1,000 workers are murdered and 1.5 million are assaulted in the workplace each year. The Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey reports that assaults and threats of violence against Americans at work number almost 2 million a year.

Acts of aggression in the workplace can also have consequences beyond immediate physical and psychological injury. Incidents of workplace violence can result not only in extensive damage to company property, higher legal and insurance costs, lower employee morale, and higher employee turnover, but such incidents can also lead to a tarnished company image, which in turn can result in loss of business. Estimates suggest that workplace violence costs employers in excess of $55 million in lost wages alone.

"These statistics point out a pervasive and costly problem," said Dean David E. Van Zandt. "By combining the knowledge and skills of behavioral experts and the legal community, we can educate professionals on how to avoid these potentially dangerous and costly situations in the workplace."

Dean Van Zandt and James L. Cavanaugh Jr., M.D., chairman and president of the Isaac Ray Center, gave opening remarks. Other speakers included Rodgers M. Wilson, M.D., vice president for special forensic projects, Isaac Ray Center; Nina G. Stillman, Vedder, Price, Kaufman & Kammholz; Mayer G. Freed, professor of law, Northwestern University School of Law; S. Jan Brakel, vice president of administration, legal affairs and program development, Isaac Ray Center; Peter Fink, M.D., vice president and medical director, workplace violence program, Isaac Ray Center; Dana S. Connell, Littler Mendelson; and William R. Keefe, R.E. Walsh & Associates, Inc.

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