Employee Expressed Thoughts Of Harming Himself And/or Others.

Location: Oakland County, Michigan

Background and inciting incident: I work for a small company that services medical equipment. One of our service techs, George (fake name), has had serious attitude and professionalism issues for a while. In a disciplinary meeting with the company owner, John (also fake name), George told John that if we fire him, he will kill himself and/or someone else. We know that George has a legal firearm and concealed carry permit, and that he carries said firearm when he is on job sites in bad areas.

The plan: Tomorrow, John will have a conversation with Steve (you know the drill by now), who is a former employee who willingly left to work for a customer as an in-house service tech. Steve is the one who got George into the industry and is something of a father figure to George. The conversation will not be about the business or work, and will solely be to express our concerns about George so Steve can hopefully help us keep George safe.

Following that conversation, John will speak with George, putting George on a six-week paid medical leave. During that time, the company will pay for weekly therapy for George. At the end of those six weeks, we will require a fitness-to-return assessment from a psychiatric professional.

I have spoken to a counselor at the suicide prevention lifeline to get their advice about the psychological aspects of this plan, and she wholeheartedly approved it. he also recommended a) having police on-site (but not readily visible) during the conversation, and/or b) asking him if he has his gun before the conversation starts and putting it in the safe if he does.

The questions:

1. Is there anything about this plan that is not legal?
2. Are there any legal responsibilities we have that we are not fulfilling through this plan?