Broward County Crime Commission Addresses Workplace Bullying

Broward County Crime Commission’s all-day conference, Adult & Workplace Bullying, on July 24th

I’m proud to be representing the National Workplace Bullying Coalition as one of the panelists at this conference next month. I’ll also be screening one of my early films on the topic, “Jodie’s Law: no job Is worth losing the precious gift of life.” Jodie’s Mom and Aunt Joie will be there to speak about “The Human Cost of Adult Bullying.”  The roster of speakers and scope of the agenda is truly impressive so if you’re in the area you should definitely check out the flyer below and go to the Eventbrite link for more information and to sign up. Continue reading

New Hampshire Legislature Passes Workplace Bullying Law

new hampshire workplace bullying legislationBack in February we highlighted union backed legislation that was pushing through New Hampshire. On June 4 it officially passed through the House and Senate.

Similar to the bill that whizzed through Tennessee, HB 0591  is limited to Public Employees and emphasizes the need to implement policies and training. We would all love to see stand alone legislation with all the protections employees deserve but this growing trend that focuses on finding ways to pass legislation has infused energy and movement into a previously stalled campaign. And, more importantly, workers are beginning to have protection from devastating psychological abuse. Union efforts in California has ensured that other states are not far behind. Hopefully legislators in New York and other states around the country will begin to adopt this winning template to protect their employees. Can private employers be far behind? Continue reading

Tennessee Enacts Law to Prevent Workplace Bullying – But…

SB2226: Any person injured by any act in violation of this bill will have a civil cause of action in chancery court or circuit court…When an employer or employee is found to be in violation, the court may enjoin such employer or employee from engaging in the unlawful employment practice and may order any other relief necessary, including, but not limited to, the removal of the offending party from said work environment, medical expenses, compensation for pain and suffering, compensation for emotional distress, punitive damages and attorney’s fees.  NOT!

Wouldn’t that paragraph have thrilled the hearts of all of us involved in the effort to pass abusive conduct legislation to protect employees? But, that’s not the portion of SB2226 that the Tennessee State Senate approved or the Governor signed. What they did enact “requires the Tennessee advisory commission on intergovernmental relations (TACIR), in consultation with the department of human resources and interested local government organizations, to create a model policy for local governments to prevent abusive conduct in their workplaces workplace. The model policy shall:

(1) Assist employers in recognizing and responding to abusive conduct in the workplace; and
(2) Prevent retaliation against any employee who has reported abusive conduct in the workplace. Continue reading

Isn’t management supposed to fire abrasive managers?

[*Note: Sulzberger’s statement pointing to Abramson’s management style as the reason he fired her was released after this article was published – link here to read it. ]

Last night I caught up with Charlie Rose’s coverage of the ouster of Jill Abramson as Executive Editor of the New York Times. Rose played a clip from his earlier interview with Abramson when she was first promoted in which she told him that she was made aware that she needed to bring “good Jill” to her new role. In 2011 – three years ago – Poynter quotes a New Yorker article that brings this concern home: Continue reading

More Employees Cite “Incivility” As Reason For Leaving Jobs

Even though the 2013 report, Civility in America, showed a sharp decline in workplace incivility in the last two years “there has been a 30% increase in Americans reporting they have quit a job because it was an uncivil workplace.”  This increase in job shifts is surprising because a similar decline was found by the Workplace Bullying Institute in relationship to more abusive situations; down from 13% in 2007 to just 7% in 2014. Continue reading

Did Victim of Workplace Bullying Fake Mental Injuries?

Embed from Getty Images

This disturbing article by Noel Towell in the Sydney Morning Herald presents the story of a man who claimed an abusive boss left him in need of electroshock therapy countered by the healthy picture of this same man on surveillance DVDs gathered by his employer: Continue reading