Two Armed Robberies, No Violence Prevention Plan, and a Supervisor's Text Message

1. No workplace violence prevention plan. Employers covered by Labor Code 6401.9 must have a written plan in place, available to employees and their representatives, with specific required elements including responsible persons, reporting procedures, hazard identification, post-incident response and investigation, and a prohibition on retaliation.

2. No violent incident log. A log must be maintained and retained for five years, capturing the date, time, location, classification of the incident, type of violence, detailed description, and the persons involved.

3. No violence prevention training. Training is required when the plan is established, annually thereafter, when new equipment, work practices, or hazards are introduced, and for all newly hired employees; training records must be kept for one year.

4. Inadequate IIPP. The 2016 document lacks the current required elements (access to the plan, reporting and investigation procedures, training, and identification of hazards). A pattern of two armed robberies at a single unattended kiosk is a recognized, foreseeable hazard the employer failed to identify and correct.

5. Incomplete injury reporting to Cal/OSHA. Deaths must be reported within 8 hours; a serious injury or illness - including an inpatient hospitalization for other than medical observation or diagnostic testing, which this overnight concussion admission is - must be reported within 24 hours.

6. No OSHA 300 log entry. A recordable injury must be entered within 7 calendar days, and the 301 incident report completed; both must be retained for five years.

7. No workers' compensation claim form. The DWC-1 must be provided within one working day of notice of the injury (Labor Code 5401).

8. Retaliation exposure. The district manager's text raises Labor Code 132a (discrimination against an injured worker), Labor Code 6310 (safety complaints), and Labor Code 1102.5 risk.

Required plan elements: responsible persons by name and title; procedures for employees to report incidents and concerns, including anonymous reporting; how the employer responds to and investigates reports; procedures for evacuation and shelter-in-place; procedures for employees to communicate during an emergency; coordination with other employers at the site (fuel supplier, delivery vendors, contract security); methods to identify and evaluate hazards; a designated person to implement the plan; procedures for obtaining employee input and involving employees; post-incident response and investigation; recordkeeping; and an express no-retaliation provision.

Kiosk-specific controls. The pattern already establishes the hazard, so the plan must be backed by actual engineering and administrative controls:

• Time-delay safe or cash-drop safe; limited cash on hand and posted signage announcing it.
• Register coverage on camera, with footage retained long enough to be useful, plus lighting on the approach and inside the kiosk.
• Panic or duress alarm with a defined response protocol, tested on a schedule.
• Physical barrier (transaction drawer or pass-through), clear sightlines, and removal of window signage that blocks visibility.
• Stop single-clerk overnight staffing, or close the kiosk window overnight; two people or a locked-window model.
• Post-incident protocol: lock-down, call 911, do not pursue, preserve scene, offer employee assistance, debrief within 48 hours and document.

Plan governance: review the plan annually and after every incident or hazard change; record the review; make the plan accessible; and train to the plan, not to a generic slide deck.

For the clerk:

1. Provide the DWC-1 claim form immediately, explain the process, and never discourage or delay filing. Do not ask about immigration status.
2. Authorize treatment; the employer must pay up to the statutory cap for treatment while the claim is evaluated.
3. Evaluate leave obligations - the clerk will likely need time off, and a concussion with lingering symptoms may be a disability requiring an interactive process and reasonable accommodation under FEHA on return.
4. Do not text her about opening the store or about returning before a medical release. All contact goes through HR and the claims administrator.
5. File the Cal/OSHA report within 24 hours (hospitalization overnight), enter the injury on the 300 log within 7 days, complete the 301, and retain the records for five years.

For the text message:

• Instruct the district manager in writing to have no further contact with the injured employee about the injury, the claim, or her return.
• Preserve the message and all related communications; do not delete anything.
• Expect the message to be the centerpiece of a Labor Code 132a or 6310 claim. Timing plus a discouraging statement is very difficult to explain, so the employer's response should be documented, immediate, and remedial.
• Send the employee a written reassurance that the company supports her claim, that she will not be penalized for filing, and that her job is protected during recovery.
• Train all supervisors that they may not comment on claims, injuries, or safety complaints, and route anything safety-related to HR and to the safety committee.