Joseph Lawrence Joe Silva was 43 when he was killed on February 16, 1988, at ESL Inc., a computer company in Sunnyvale, California. He was one of seven people shot and killed when Richard Farley, a former ESL employee, entered the building armed and opened fire after being fired. The attack also wounded several others.

Reports tie Farley’s actions to an obsession with a co-worker, Laura Black, who had filed a harassment complaint against him. Farley was charged with multiple counts including murder and attempted murder; he was convicted and sentenced to death in People v. Farley. The killings shocked the community and prompted attention to workplace violence and harassment issues.