FEDERATED INSURANCE: Q+A, Requiring an Anger Management Course for an Employee

This post is a part of Federated Insurance’s Question and Answer Series. Questions are submitted by Federated Insurance clients. 

Question

We have an employee who is very good at their job, but they have issues controlling their anger. Multiple employees have complained that they have exploded at them over minor issues. Can we require them to take an anger management course?

Answer

Requiring (or even requesting) that an employee participate in any type of therapy, anger management, professional mental health treatment or the like is typically not a best practice. Doing so may lead an employee to allege that the employer “regards” them as having a disability (for example, a mental or behavioral impairment) that requires medical attention. An employer can unwittingly confer the protection of the Americans with Disabilities Act upon an employee even though they may not be disabled. This protection can set an employer up for a potential disability discrimination claim if adverse employment action is later taken.

A better approach is to manage whatever issue is occurring at work from a performance management or policy violation perspective. It is certainly possible for someone who is not suffering from any medical or mental health issues to have poor communication skills, behave angrily or inappropriately when frustrated, or otherwise conduct themselves in a manner unbecoming of an employee. Therefore, an employer should not assume an employee needs therapy or treatment merely because, for example, they have yelled or exhibited other inappropriate workplace behavior. Instead, an employer should treat an employee from the standpoint of performance management and policy violation in a manner consistent with employer policy and practice. To this end, if an employee has behaved inappropriately or angrily, the employer should issue whatever disciplinary action is warranted by the conduct and in accordance with company policy and practice.