Tag Archives: workplace bullying

Bullied or Mobbed at Work? Read The New Survival Guide

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 Mobbing isn’t the same thing as bullying. It’s bullying run amuck, sweeping good people into an atmosphere of fear, rumors and lies, where group psychology takes hold.  Bullying is an interpersonal conflict between two people, or one aggressive individual against a few.  But mobbing is the aggression of a group of people against an individual.  It’s not a fair fight.  It’s not even a fight.  It’s an execution. — Dr. Janice Harper, author MOBBED! A SURVIVAL GUIDE TO ADULT BULLYING & MOBBING Continue reading →

AOL CEO: “at a human level it was unfair”

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Imagine 1,000 people listening in as you get sacked. If you haven’t heard the audio tape of AOL’s Chairman, Tim Armstrong, sacking an employee during a teleconference call you can hear it for yourself [ UPI link]. Armstrong has since apologized not just to Abel, the employee he fired, but everyone in the company. CNN Money posted his memo: “…I am writing you to acknowledge the mistake I made last Friday during the Patch all-hands meeting when I publicly fired Abel Lenz. It was an emotional response at the start of a difficult discussion dealing with many people’s careers and livelihoods. I am the CEO and leader of the organization, and I take that responsibility seriously. We talk a lot about accountability and I am accountable for the way I handled the situation, and at a human level it was unfair to Abel. I’ve communicated to him directly and apologized for the way the matter was handled at the meeting…”   Continue reading →

Why me? How Gender Impacts Targets of Workplace Bullying

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definition-150x150I’ve been hosting discussion groups and interviewing targets of workplace bullying for over 7 years and most victims of abuse really want an answer to what is no doubt the hardest question of all: why me?  An excellent article by Salin & Hoel in the new Journal of Managerial Psychology argues that part of the answer may be linked to how differently men and women perceive the severity – and definition – of bullying: Continue reading →

Using Workplace Violence Policies To Stop Workplace Bullying

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Public Employees: Connecticut

edith pragueSeveral years ago Connecticut State Senator Edith Prague wanted to pass workplace bullying legislation for public employees. The opposition argued that it was already covered under workplace violence policies and a study was requested to determine if it was indeed included. I was filming Prague’s support of the Healthy Workplace Bill at the time and remember well that she was passionate about the topic and surprised to learn that the handbook policies put in place after a tragic workplace 1998 shooting nearly 10 years earlier actually did address bullying behavior. The 2008 report concluded that: Continue reading →

Justice Ginsburg Stands Up For Abused Employees

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English: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justic...

It’s hard for targets of workplace bullying to prove their hostile work environment is a clear case of discrimination — bullying by definition falls outside of the protections of Title VII — but some plaintiffs still managed to win by proving they were fired or demoted in retaliation for filing a claim. Today’s Supreme Court decision just made that harder and a second “get out of jail free” card was awarded to businesses when SCOTUS narrowed the definition of whether that jerk harassing you is “technically” your supervisor. In what the Huffington Post called a “rare move,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told the court: “Both decisions dilute the strength of Title VII in ways Congress could not have intended,” said Ginsburg, who then called on Congress to change the law to overturn the court.” In Vance v Ball Ginsburg wrote: Continue reading →

Using Union Contracts To Protect Teachers From Bullying

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The NEA (National Education Association) published this article showing how union contracts can protect employees from bullying. Most interesting is the section on Massachusetts and the fact that Workplace Violence laws currently in place arguably offer protection from bullying: Continue reading →