“That’s Just How He Is” Is Not A Workplace Safety Plan

“That’s just how he is,” my manager said. A regular customer had just grabbed my arm hard enough to leave a mark, and that was the entire response.

Nothing.

No apology. No incident report. No conversation about what happens the next time he came in.

I kept working the counter because I did not know what else to do, and because I was not sure what happened to me even counted as anything.”

Here is what a lot of employees do not realize: workplace violence is not just a policy binder that sits in a back office. California requires most employers to maintain an actual, working workplace violence prevention plan under Lab. Code § 6401.9 (SB 553), one that covers threats and physical conduct from customers, not only coworkers.

And when a manager brushes off physical misconduct because the person doing it is a familiar face or a paying customer, that is a different legal problem entirely. Under FEHA (Gov. Code § 12940(j)), an employer can be liable for harassment by a non-employee, including a customer, once the employer knew or should have known and failed to take reasonable corrective action.

“That’s just how he is” is not a safety plan. It is the sentence that shows up in a lot of case files right before things escalate.

Advising both employers and employees on workplace violence policy shows the same gap from two directions: employers focus on the written plan and the drill, while the exposure employees describe day to day is being told to smile through repeat customer misconduct nobody wrote down anywhere.

If a customer has hurt you and your employer’s response was to shrug, write down exactly what was said and when. That sentence matters more than you think.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine whether you have a claim – and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts – no lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes. AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication.