Employee Termination Security in Chicago: How to Handle a Volatile Firing

Most terminations are routine. The few that aren’t need a plan, and good employee termination security Chicago employers can rely on starts well before the meeting.

On September 30, 2026, an altercation at a United Rentals facility in Manassas, Virginia, ended with a worker shooting three coworkers. Two died. Police say he allegedly said “three people are going to die,” according to ABC7 Chicago.

Chicago employers have seen this up close. In February 2019, an employee at the Henry Pratt Company in Aurora opened fire during his termination meeting. Five coworkers were killed and five police officers were wounded. He had threatened violence if he was ever fired, and coworkers had dismissed it as talk (details).

Most firings end quietly. But the dangerous ones rarely come out of nowhere, and the employers who get through them safely are the ones who planned for the worst.

When a firing is high-risk

OSHA defines workplace violence as any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation or other threatening behavior at the work site. It runs from threats and verbal abuse to physical assault. A termination can bring all of that to the surface.

Risk goes up when:

• The person has made threats, even ones coworkers brushed off as jokes
• They have access to weapons, or to critical systems, keys or data
• They are being removed for violence, harassment or theft
• A layoff, strike or labor dispute already has the workplace on edge
• There is a personal relationship involved, such as a coworker partner or a recent breakup
• The person has been increasingly angry, isolated or fixated on a grievance

If a manager feels uneasy, treat it as high-risk. That instinct is usually based on something real.

Employee termination security Chicago checklist: before the meeting

• Pick the time and place. Use a private room near an exit, not deep inside the building, and not where the person’s coworkers sit.
• Keep the circle small. HR, the decision-maker, legal if needed and security. Nobody else needs to know the date.
• Walk the route. Know the path from the meeting room to the desk, locker, car and property line.
• Plan access shutdown. Have IT and facilities ready to turn off badges, building codes, email and remote access at the right moment, not the night before.
• Prepare the paperwork and final pay questions so the meeting stays short and factual.
• Decide who calls police and under what conditions, before anyone walks in.

During the meeting

• Keep it brief, respectful and final. Don’t debate the decision.
• Have two company representatives in the room.
• Keep a security officer in or just outside the room, low-key and ready.
• Collect keys, badges and devices from a checklist.
• Offer to have personal items packed and delivered, or escort the person to collect them.
• Walk them out calmly to their car or the property line.

After the meeting

The first hours and days matter. Many employers add lobby and parking lot coverage that afternoon or the next morning, especially if the person made threats or left angry. Tell front-desk staff, in general terms, what to do if the former employee returns, and keep a written log of anything that happens.

If they threaten to come back

Under the Illinois Workplace Violence Prevention Act (820 ILCS 275), an employer with at least 15 employees can ask a court for a workplace protection restraining order. It can be used when someone has made a credible threat of violence at the workplace or carried out unlawful violence there. The order can require the person to stay away from the workplace. Emergency orders last 14 to 21 days, and plenary orders last up to one year. The Act does not let a court bar lawful picketing in a bona fide labor dispute, so plan layoffs and strike-related terminations with that in mind. Talk to your attorney about whether an order fits your situation.

OSHA also recommends a zero-tolerance policy on workplace violence and training so workers know the signs of potentially violent behavior. Having both in place before a high-risk termination makes the day easier to manage.

Uniformed or plainclothes?

It depends on the tone you need. Uniformed or armed officers make sense at a plant, warehouse or job site where there has already been violence or open threats. For most office terminations, plainclothes is the right call: it protects people without sending the whole floor into alarm or humiliating the person being let go.

How Valle can help

Valle’s high-risk employee termination security team works with HR, facilities and legal counsel. We do an advance walkthrough, keep a low-profile presence at the meeting, provide an escort off property, and cover the lobby and parking lot afterward. You also get after-action notes for your file. When the situation calls for it, we provide armed security officers and off-duty police.

Sometimes the threat isn’t the employee being fired but someone in an employee’s personal life. For those cases, see our guide to the Illinois VESSA 2026 update and our spousal protection and stalker protection services. For parking lot risks, read why parking lot and property security matters.

Have a termination coming up that worries you? Contact Valle Services or call 630-212-8938 for a free, confidential assessment, 24/7. You don’t need to put the employee’s name in writing when you first reach out. Learn more about our employee termination security.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• ABC7 Chicago: 2 employees killed, 1 hurt in Manassas shooting at United Rentals
• Wikipedia: 2019 Aurora, Illinois, shooting
• OSHA: Workplace Violence overview
• Illinois General Assembly: Workplace Violence Prevention Act (820 ILCS 275)

This article is general information, not legal advice. Talk to an Illinois employment attorney about your situation.