Tag Archives: workplace bully

Take the $25K Cap Out of “Workplace Bullying” Legislation!

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Is the Healthy Workplace Bill too business friendly?

“Do you think employers sat around and said ‘women are so mistreated we must have policies to protect women?’  No!  When we had a law they listened to the law only because of the fear of litigation.” – Gary Namie, co-founder of the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI)

This year the WBI’s Healthy Workplace Bill (HWB)  is pending in several States and recently passed through the Illinois Senate.   David Yamada, author of this anti-workplace bullying legislation,  is encouraged but  laments on his blog that the Illinois bill only addresses public employees.

But, perhaps those employees in the private sector praying for help should actually give a sigh of relief that there’s still time to modify the HWB.  Continue reading →

Canada Takes On Workplace Bullies!

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Special Guest Blog from Workplace Bullying expert and Legislative Advocate Dr. Lisa M.S. Barrow, author of “In Darkness Light Dawns: Exposing Workplace Bullying“ and “Hope For a Healthy Workplace“.  She was deeply involved in Canada’s recent passage of anti-bullying legislation.  Continue reading →

iTunes Therapy for the workplace : )

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When I was suffering the tyrannical grip of a vicious boss I found that music helped me tremendously and every day I downloaded a song or album to help get me through.  So a new permanent feature of this blog’s sidebar will feature music videos that are some of my favorites.  They may not all be your taste, but then again they often surprised me (like when I suddenly couldn’t get enough Frank Sinatra.)  For me they were best played LOUD over and over and over again. And, I got so I NEVER opened my email software without first starting the theme song for JAWS.   Continue reading →

There Is Hope After The Bully Is Gone And Other Resolutions For The New Year

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Midnight is just a few hours away.  It will signal the start of a brand spanking new decade.  Yeah!  That time can’t tick by quickly enough because this particular celebration is really precious to me.  The list of things I am grateful to leave behind include financial losses, family illnesses, broken arms, surgery and being evacuated from my home barely two blocks North of the World Trade Center as I stood by helplessly watching as thousands died.   It took years to recover but I did.  And, shortly after I finally breathed a guilty survivor’s sigh of relief, I suddenly found myself working for a vicious and abusive boss who brought me to my knees.  Once again I’ve moved on and rebuilt my life and – although I bristle when other people say this – I have indeed made lemonade out of lemons by making this site that includes the videos already posted, those in progress,  and meeting all of you.   Continue reading →

Follow up on Women In Trucking

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Yesterday I posted a Sneak Peek of a video I’ll be posting on harassment in the trucking industry.  It featured an interview with Ellen Voie, President & CEO of Women In Trucking.  Today I received this comment from her brother and I wanted to address his concerns formally:

Beverly,

I am Ellen Voie’s brother. I don’t know what impression Ellen made on you, or what you wish to do, but I think you are missing Ellen’s goal to help start a forum for women drivers to speak out against abuses and to join together in a network that helps the profession. The Dan Rather expose’ doesn’t tell the whole story about the women who do feel well trained and equipped to drive semi’s. I hope you will interview those who are happy in their profession as well as those who feel they have been harmed and harrassed.

My Response:

First, thank you so much for posting! I am grateful that you have opened up this discussion and that your sister allowed me to interview her on this topic and I sincerely hope others join in.  I do realize and deeply appreciate that women truckers love their jobs.  That’s precisely why it’s so tragic when a co-worker who feels comfortable treating them in a lewd or sexually explicit manner jeopardizes any one of these women’s careers.

Your sister represents one approach to affecting change in the trucking industry.   And, I did speak with a woman involved in the class action suit.  She didn’t hate her job.  She LOVED it. There are powerful lawyers and well financed lobbyists representing the trucking industry.  So, the critical question becomes, who is advocating for the victim?   Because while it’s easy to see it from the side of the employer that these are the rumblings of a disgruntled employee, or the women asked for it, or want a quick payday, it’s far harder to risk speaking out for the innocent victim whose only offense was that she was a woman in a job that is traditionally male.

Continue reading →

NY GOV KILLS HOSTILE WORKPLACE BILL!

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Governor Paterson's Veto Memo

Governor Paterson's Veto Memo

[New York] If you’re sitting in a cubicle popping anti-depressants and hiding from a toxic boss your wait for legal protection just got longer.

On August 11th,  Governor Paterson vetoed S1948, a bill to study hostile workplaces citing the $366,000 cost amendment tagged on by NY’s Dept of Labor.

I spoke with DOL Counsel, Maria Colavito before the veto and she said the DOL would have to hire staff to conduct studies.  When I asked why they would need to conduct studies since this topic has already been researched pretty extensively for decades she voiced concern that the bill would replicate the 5 year NIOSH study currently underway.

Colavito gave me the contact info for Matt London of PEF who is deeply involved in creating policy for NY’s newly enacted Workplace Violence prevention law which protects employees in the public sector.  Type 3 Workplace Violence — worker on worker — does include workplace bullying.  Great news for public employees but no help at all for those in the private sector terrified of going to work each day and precisely the employees S1948 was expected to help.

London said that he would be happy to share data currently being gathered in NY agencies in the NIOSH study and expects it to be available in September.   It would certainly seem that this would reduce the need for any new studies or data gathering as well as impact the cost of hiring additional employees by the DOL.  And, it could also mean the DOL could meet their one year turn around deadline by concentrating on how this data reflects hostile workplaces right here in NY by holding public hearings and forums — not unlike the ones they held for the workplace violence bill.

Still not convinced?  Compare the estimated $366,000 price tag to the monetary award in last year’s landmark “workplace bully” lawsuit in Indiana.  The abused worker won a $325,000 judgment.

Research shows that each abusive boss creating a hostile workplace may cost $83,000.  This does NOT factor in the high $$ impact on the victim’s health insurance OR the loss of income during today’s economic cri$i$. [Mattice]


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