When an employee displays troubling behavior that raises questions of mental health issues, employers frequently confront a balancing act of two legitimate, and often seemingly conflicting, interests. On the one hand, employers certainly wish to be sensitive to the plight of the employee and, of course, comply with employment laws protecting individuals with disabilities. On the other hand, employers simultaneously must make the necessary assessment to protect the safety of the employee’s co-workers, and others with whom the employee may come into contact while on the job, as well as the employee’s own health and safety.
A disastrous instance of this delicate and oftentimes difficult situation surfaced this past March when a pilot crashed his Germanwings flight into a French mountainside, killing himself and the 149 others aboard the plane. Investigatory reports following the crash revealed that the pilot had suffered from mental health issues, including severe depression, in prior years, and that his psychological troubles had seemingly spiked in the time leading up to the crash. The Germanwings tragedy is an extreme example, but it serves as an apt reminder of an important question: When faced with an employee or job applicant who has displayed troubling behavior, raising concerns of mental health issues, what should an employer do?
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