A group of New Hanover County’s top employers are tackling the issue of domestic violence head on. “New Hanover County, in the last five or six years, has lost two employees due to domestic violence,” said Mark Boyer, spokesman for the county.

The most recent case was in August 2008, when New Hanover County jailer, Tarica Pulliam, 27, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend despite filing an affidavit for a domestic violence protection order against him. He shot her as she left her apartment at Briarcliff Villas on her way to work. “So, domestic violence has hit us, as an organization, especially hard,” Boyer said.

As a result, New Hanover County, Verizon Wireless, and Evolve Wilmington will hold a free half-day workshop for local business leaders and human relations managers on Oct. 20 to share the policies they’ve enacted to protect and support their employees affected by domestic violence. The Civil Workplace Protocol Summit will be held at New Hanover County Government Center from 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. RSVP by calling (910) 343-0703. Continental breakfast will be provided.

The summit is part of an initiative that began in 2006 when the city of Wilmington, New Hanover County, UNCW, New Hanover Regional Medical Center and Verizon Wireless adopted the Civil Workplace Protocol. Business owners are encouraged to sign-on to the protocol, which promotes policies that will help victims come forward to receive support while helping employers mitigate violent incidents and improve overall safety in the workplace.

In 2007, New Hanover County commissioners approved the addition of a domestic violence clause in the workplace harassment policy, which extends intervention services to include a safety escort from the building to an employee’s car and a telephone system that discreetly alerts all employees throughout the Government Center building if a violent incident arises in another part of the building, said Linda Bohne, New Hanover County senior HR analyst.

According to the summit organizers’ information, 94 percent of corporate security directors surveyed nationally ranked domestic violence as a high security problem at their company.

Verizon Wireless is one of the first businesses to include domestic violence in its civil workplace policy for its employees, including the 1,300 workers that report to the Wilmington call center.

Upon hiring, all employees receive training on the counseling and other resources available to them when facing a domestic violence situation, said Robert Clayton, Verizon Wireless human resource manager. “One of the things that’s unique about us is I have the ability to work with my counterparts in another state if an employee needs to be transferred to a safer workplace,” Clayton said. “It helps maintain their employment,” he said.