Tragic Murder of Yale Graduate Student Sheds Light on Issue of Workplace Violence

The tragic, stunning murder of a young woman attending a prestigious Ivy League University who was about to be married – her body was discovered on what was to be her wedding day – has shed a bright light on the troubling issue of workplace violence in America.

According to a report from ABC News, police arrested Raymond Clark III, 24, a Yale University lab technician, in connection with the murder of Annie Le – also 24, and a Ph.D. candidate at Yale – whose battered and strangled body was found stuffed in a basement wall of the off-campus medical research building where both worked on the day she was to marry her college sweetheart.

In a statement concerning the arrest of Clark, New Haven, Connecticut Police Chief James Lewis concluded: “I think it’s important to note this (Le’s murder) is not about urban crime, it’s not about university crime, it’s not about domestic crime, but an issue of workplace violence, which is becoming a growing concern around the country.”

According to the ABC News report, Clark – who has a muscular build on which police found deep scratches on the chest, arms, and back that suggested a violent struggle – worked as an animal services technician helping to clean the cages of research animals, which put him in contact with the diminutive Le, who was less than five-feet in height and weighed under 100 pounds, and who worked for a Yale laboratory as a medical researcher conducting experiments on mice.

Additional evidence of a suspected incidence of workplace violence includes the ABC News report that, according to sources close to the investigation, the electronic trail left by Clark's Yale “swipe card” indicated he had entered the same lab where Le was last seen alive, that Le never exited that lab using her own swipe card afterward, and that Clark also accessed the basement area where her body was later found.

In yet another link to possible workplace violence, ABC News reported that Clark sent a text message to Le early on Tuesday, September 8 – the day that she went missing – requesting a meeting at their place of work to discuss the cleanliness of the cages of the research mice.

Whatever the outcome in the trial concerning the tragic death of this young woman, the highly publicized case has already brought the topic of workplace violence, which remains a serious safety and health issue, to the public's attention. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), workplace violence in its most extreme form – homicide – is the fourth-leading cause of fatal occupational injury in the United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), there were 564 workplace homicides in 2005 in the United States.

Pre-Employ.com is a leading provider of pre-employment background checks that can help prevent workplace violence. For more information, visit www.pre-employ.com, email info@pre-employ.com, or call 1-800-300-1821. To follow Pre-Employ.com on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/PreEmploy.

tahearn@pre-employ.com

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