And the Oscar for best zero-tolerance workplace violence policy goes to . . .

Let’s say you have a superstar employee who brings you money and prestige. He is nominated for a top industry prize for his performance the previous year and attends the awards dinner. During the program, the master of ceremonies tells a joke he didn’t like about his wife, so he calmly strolls the length of the room to the podium, slaps the emcee hard, walks back to his seat, and shouts, “Keep my wife’s name out of your F___ing mouth!” Twenty minutes later, he wins the coveted award. The industry is still buzzing over the episode weeks later. What is the proper response?

You can’t fire me, I quit

It isn’t too hard to tell that I’ve just described Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the recent Oscar Awards presentation. But everything is an employment problem to me, so let’s talk through it. Did the incident occur at a work-related event? Of course it did, with high visibility in the industry and immediate adverse reaction from the consuming public.

Is the employee showing remorse? That certainly wasn’t Smith’s first reaction when he took to the microphone to explain “love makes you do crazy things” and that the devil made him do it. But he quickly was coached into contrition, following up with full-throated apologies to Chris Rock and unconditional blame for his own improper actions.

When Smith was told the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had commenced an investigation into disciplinary proceedings, he tried to preempt the matter, resigning from the organization before it had a chance to throw him out.

Correct measure of discipline