Workplace Bullying

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And they tell you it'll get better after high school...

http://news.yahoo.com/bully-victims-str ... 20983.html

Gah. Human nature bites the big one.

oh yea. At my former employer, where I worked for nearly 20yrs

I was picked on by my lazy union co-workers who ...1/2 of which could barely do the job and the rest were only decent at one or two aspects

I was scorned by the engineer's who, again could do 1/2 their job and because of their education believed they knew it all.

Even the HR department( who should of been defending my legal rights)After contracting a skin condition, and with the prescribed medication resulting in being ill alot they jumped on the bandwagon also. Told me to "quit and get another job"."cover my skin as they didn't like the apearance of it"

They even illegally fired me as a result of, because of, my disability.

That was 3yrs ago and I'm still fighting. Just got into federal court recently. The EEOC is a frikkin JOKE ! !! over 20months to investigate and then did nothing but throw it in my lap.

What a nightmare ! !! !!

Having gone through a considerable amount of bullying myself, I sympathize, but I disagree. Unlike children, most adults have options, and don't have to depend upon the whims of authority figures to protect their physical safety. Any healthy adults that allow themselves to be bullied have to find ways to nurture their self esteem enough so that they will take steps to protect themselves. It's difficult, but it can be done - bullies can be defeated.

Targets, victims and witnesses of bullying have a few avenues to pursue (as compared with victims of sexual harassment) when subject to repeated and obvious acts of aggression, spreading malicious rumours, excluding someone socially or from certain projects, undermining or impeding a person’s work or opinions, insulting a person’s habits, attitudes, or private life and intruding upon a person’s privacy. Others include being rude or belligerent, destroying property, assaulting an individual, or setting impossible deadlines. Although bullying is recognized as detrimental to occupational health, there is little political or corporate interest in stopping it.

In schoolyard bullying, the bullies are children, whose behaviour is controlled by the leaders, i.e. the school administration. In workplace bullying, however, the bullies are often the leaders themselves, i.e., the managers and supervisors. Therefore, reporting a bully to the HR dept, for example, may expose the target/victim to the risk of even more bullying, slower career advancement, or even termination, on the grounds of being a “troublemaker!”.

Workplace bullying has severe consequences, including reduced effectiveness and high employee turnover. An employee who suffers any physical or psychiatric injury as a result of workplace bullying can confront the bully, report the bully to the HR department or to the trade union, if any, or bring a claim of negligence and/or a personal injury claim against both the employer and the abusive employee as joint respondents in the claim. If the law does not persuade employers to deal with workplace bullying, the economic reality will persuade them. Training sessions can help when combined with a confidential reporting structure, but it is difficult to alter the basic nature of some individuals, who may need counselling.

Maxwell Pinto, Business Author

I notice with children, their bullying is more direct. With adults, it's less direct. They can do it behind your back and one of them can be taking credit for your work or messing your work up so you get in trouble or taking your cleaning supplies, they may also do passive aggressive behavior. My mom has faced work place bullying by her boss. other employees faced the same bullying there too before quitting. My mom speculated that they start to bully workers there to get them to quit so they can hire new people and not pay them as much and then after having to give them raises over the years, they start to bully them to get them to quit. My mom saw the pattern.

But unfortunately quitting isn't always the option. I am someone who can't even find a job that easily. It can take me months and I need a job to live. So I would have to deal with the bullies or not have a job at all. So I can't just say people can just quit and get another one because it's not always that simple. I knew someone at my current work who faced bullying from our boss and another person and her speculation was they were doing it to get her to retire since she was over 65 years of age. She finally retired because she decided it was time and my boss told me she was quitting.


I just hope I won't ever have to face workplace bullying or I would have to put up with the crap. Thank goodness someone isn't taking my stuff anymore but someone took my spray bottle the other day and the next day it was back on my cart. I am giving that person a benefit of the doubt, maybe they were just borrowing it and they forgot to return it.

There was a manager over one of the departments where I work that was clearly a bully. He openly chastised, belittled, threatened, and yelled at his people in front of whoever happened to be around. One of his people (they were mostly all mechanical engineers) made one little mistake that caused an insignificant scheduling slip and he rode him and made a show of micromanaging him for weeks. he micromanaged everyone but this one was his special project for a while.
A lot of his abuse was taken in stride because this manager was very good at getting pay raises for his people. One of his people confided in me that he preferred this manager to others that were more personable just because he needed the extra income from the raises.

Said manager must have done something right because he got transferred and promoted and now has even more people to bully and a higher income for his efforts.

This is just one example but the best one I can think of. It's obvious to me that upper management loves bullies and reckless people because they get things done. I also strongly believe that it satisfies some deep dark Darwinian need. Of course, they publicly condemn that kind of behavior to cover their asses but secretly they admire it and reward it.

That story aside, it's important to remember that bullying has to have a legal definition and on top of that intent has to be proven for anything to be done about it.
Some co-workers have naturally brash personalities can come off as bullies even if that is not their intent. A manager under siege by schedule demands can come off as a bully when there is an actual need to crack the whip to keep the company afloat or even to keep a contract.

If managers could have their way they would get rid of their employees by shooting them.