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Alabama Restaurant Video Shows Customer Assaulting Worker

Oct. 18, 2019
Security video footage shows the diner forcefully grabbing a server's arm.

Even though Type 2 workplace violence incidents are most pervasive in the healthcare industry, restaurant workers also are highly suspectible to becoming victims through their direct interactions with customers.

Security camera captures a Type 2 workplace violence incident in which a disgruntled diner at The Cuban Cafe, Madison, Ala. restaurant, inappropriately grabs a server's arm and tries to forcefully jam the worker's hand onto the customer's plate.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) classifies workplace violence into four categories. Type 2 occurs when the perpetrator is a customer or client of the establishment, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

The Cuban Cafe's owners pulled the video following the incident and posted it on social media with the response:

"To the man in this video that had the audacity to demean and belittle one of our servers in this manner....you are no longer welcome at The Cuban Cafe!!!! To think that it’s OK to grab a person’s hand and try to force it into your plate and your wife’s plate simply because you did not receive your silverware quick enough is unacceptable. Who do you think you are telling him where to stand and demanding that he stand up straight while he is leaned over trying to hear what you were saying? Rest assured that if one of the owners were there tonight, you would not have been able to finish your meal and would have immediately been asked to leave. And if someone knows this man please pass along this message that he is no longer welcome in this establishment."

Information and resources to protect your workers against workplace violence are available through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

About the Author

Stefanie Valentic

Stefanie Valentic was formerly managing editor of EHS Today, and is currently editorial director of Waste360.

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