Workplace fight ends in murder

RCMP charges B.C. worker with second-degree murder

A worker has been charged with murder in the death of a co-worker following an altercation at a British Columbia cabinet manufacturer.

The fight broke out on the afternoon of May 12 at Nickels Custom Cabinets. When members of the Richmond RCMP detachment arrived on scene, they found Sukhjit Johal, 30, had been seriously injured. He later died in hospital.

Gurpal Brar, 27, was charged with second-degree murder.

The police aren't releasing details of the altercation because the investigation is ongoing. The RCMP is taking the lead investigative role because the province's workers' compensation board, WorkSafeBC, doesn't cover worker-on-worker violence.

WorkSafeBC's Violence in the Workplace Regulation only addresses threats from an outside source, such as a robber or an abusive patient.

However, employers need to be on the look out for signs of potential violence, either from inside or outside the workforce, said Kevin Calder, the co-ordinator of threat management programs at the Justice Institute of Vancouver.

Some factors to watch out for are violent ideation or lunchroom talk where a worker talks about hurting someone else at work, if the person starts to rationalize violent events or if he begins to isolate himself from colleagues.

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