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Is bullying in the workplace against the law?

17 comments

Posted on Feb 20, 2008 in Harassment at Work, In the Courts, State Legislation | 17 comments

As discussed the the ABA Journal Weekly Newsletter, a Tennessee case demonstrates that the answer to this question is no, unless the bullying is tied to a protected class. So, if the bullying is based, let’s say, on race, sex, national origin, religion, age, or disability, then it would constitute unlawful harassment. But bullying that’s just bullying isn’t unlawful.

But–several state legislatures are considering bills that would make ordinary bullying unlawful. At first blush, we might say that’s a good development as long as this legislation targets terrible stuff. And therein lies the problem. Defining what terrible stuff means is a challenge, and it will take numerous court cases to flesh out whatever various definitions different state legislatures come up with.

If this legislation passes in various states, you can imagine the amount of litigation it will generate. Keep a close watch on what your state does. If you do business in several states, keep a close watch on all of them.

17 Responses to “Is bullying in the workplace against the law?”

John Phillips says:
February 25, 2008 at 8:53 am

Thanks for the mention. I noticed that right above your reference to this post, you had the YouTube clip of the UF student being tasered at the Kerry speech a few years ago. Just to be clear, if a supervisor or employee tasered a co-worker while at work (and, let’s say, the co-worker isn’t in one of the protected classes), the perpetrator and the employer would not be guilty of discrimination or harassment. They would also not be guilty of bullying, since there’s no law against bullying. They could very well be guilty of assault and battery, however. Thanks again.
jkoehn says:
August 11, 2008 at 6:09 pm

Workplace bullying is one of the main sources of workplace violence. A bullying supervisor causes workers compensation claims, random injuries resulting from a stressful environment, and extremely bad morale. When you advise employers that “bullying is not illegal”, without more, you encourage irresponsible responses to complaints of bullying.

Managers should intervene promptly and forcefully. Company policies should include one against bullying, and those policies should be vigorously enforced.

That workplace bullying is “not illegal” does not make it right. It is unwise for a company to ignore bullying. Unless they want employees to take matters into their own hands.
John Phillips says:
August 12, 2008 at 7:40 am

Thanks very much for your comment. You’re exactly right. In other posts on this blog about bullying and fairness, I’ve tried to make the same points you’re making.

Though bullying isn’t illegal (unless it constitutes unlawful harassment or unless some state legislation presently being considered about workplace bullying passes), it’s not legal-illegal but right-wrong that should be considered about many workplace issues.

Thanks again for your comment.
Fred Smith says:
January 30, 2009 at 11:34 am

We have a crew leader that bullies people at work. He goes home gets drunk, shows up to work hungover & mean & takes it out on people. Yesterday two women called him on it. They yelled at him & told him that it wasn’t okay that he comes to work hungover & then bullies people who aren’t a part of his buddy pool. The two women were suspended for 30 days & the crew leader got away scott free thus sending the message that bullying & abuse is okay where I work – that is as long as you one who is in charge.
Allison says:
March 1, 2009 at 1:41 am

Ok…. Let me get this straight…. I was a victim of workplace bullying…. I am white, and the bully is white…. Therefore, I am not protected. However, if I were black, I would be protected????? Sounds like discrimination to me!!!!!!!
John Phillips says:
March 1, 2009 at 11:14 pm

Thanks for your comment. Very interesting point. It is discrimination but would not appear to be unlawful discrimination, unless you could show that the white bully only bullies whites and not blacks. It is possible for a white to be discriminated against because of his/her race. It has to be proven, however.

With respect to a black being bullied, he/she would have to prove that the bullying is based on race. It’s not enough just to be black.
ALC says:
May 27, 2009 at 11:00 am

Hi, I enjoyed reading your post and believe I am being bullied at work. I am the only hispanic female working in at the office but there hasn’t been any specific reference, that I know of, regarding my race although am spoken to condescendingly, offensively and recently demoted. Since there are no laws against bullying in the workplace in VA – are their acts of bullying still considered harrasment?
John Phillips says:
May 27, 2009 at 12:17 pm

ALC,

Thanks for your comment. Absent a specific bullying law (and I don’t think any state has one yet), there are a couple of legal theories that the action you complain about could fall within.

First, if the bullying is connected to one of the protected classes (the main ones being race, color, gender, national origin, religion, age and disability, that could be unlawful harassment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Even though the fact that you’re Hispanic hasn’t been referred to, if you are the only one being treated in the way you described, that might still be national origin harassment. It will depend on all the facts, including the treatment of you compared with the treatment of everyone else. The fact that you’re female also places you in another potential protected class.

Second, there are state law theories that could come into play. For example, if the action taken against you constitutes threats (particularly threats of bodily harm), that could be an assault or the intentional infliction of emotional distress under state law. There may be other theories in Virginia that a Virginia lawyer would know about.

John Phillips
Tater says:
August 9, 2009 at 6:00 pm

I am employed by the State of Tennessee. Me and another co-worker are currently being bullied by our supervisor. She has been bullying people for years and gets away with it. Numerous people have quit or transfered to other departments or state agencies. I have numerous notes on her abuse. Me and my co-worker are both excellent employees. We work hard, rarely miss work, and are team players. I blame all the upper management just as much as the perpetrator for allowing this to go on as long as it has. By the way me and my co-worker are both white and the supervisor is black. I am definately for laws against bullying in the work place. Upper management should be held accountable for allowing this to happen. By the way, this is also happening in other state agencies. I know other people who are going through the same abuse.
BB says:
October 22, 2009 at 5:42 pm

I am a 48 year old, white woman and I am being bullied by a 50-60ish year old white male coworker. He has been a problem for the company for about 3 years. He has bullied others, but right now, I am the only one. We are peers in Information Technology. My manager is supportive, understands the problem, but is not personally equipped to deal with the situation. I have spoken to my manager’s superior who also understands the problem with this person. They are afraid because he is in a protective class. I’m ready to produce documentation but don’t know what should be included/how to structure. I don’t want to sound like a whiner, but I need some relief. He prevents me from getting my work done, passes around my email/takes things out of context, incites others to be upset with me, and sometimes makes me concerned for my personal safety. My job performance/reviews from my manager are excellent and indicate I am in a difficult situation. The bully has complained about my requesting information/aggravating him and told our manager that he would have enough and couldn’t be held responsible for his actions. Direction/suggestions? EEOC? Attorney? I want to remain with my employer.
John Phillips says:
October 22, 2009 at 9:56 pm

You should talk with an attorney.
Mo says:
January 25, 2010 at 6:34 pm

I am the only black person in my company for the 22 years plus that they have been open. The owner’s dad… who does not own the company any longer and is in his 80′s works in the back doing odds and outs. He has come up to me several differant times within the last 6 months yelling at me at the top of his lungs and only does it when others aren’t around. And it could be for anything. He always says how he is watching me and documents everything I do… When I am the only one in the entire office that has had 5 raises in the past 3 years. Today I asked him to stop harrassing me and he told me that he is going to document everything I do everyday. Is this bullying? Or Harrassment?
John Phillips says:
January 26, 2010 at 11:32 am

If the person you are talking about uses racial slurs or epithets when talking to you, it could be racial harassment. It would depend on all the facts and circumstances. If it’s not harassment, I suspect that some people would regard this a bullying, although there is no particular definition for bullying, and the effort to pass bullying legislation in the states hasn’t caught fire.
Sisi says:
January 27, 2010 at 6:00 am

I am currently being bullied by a non-white member of my office. As I am white and we are both women I lose. I have been called f*ing b*tch, told to move my f*ing a$$ , moron, idiot and other things. Her flirtation with our married supervisor has meant that the bullying continues on his part by denying me billable work and not forwarding memos to me concerning my work until he’s sat on them for days (often making me late for a deadline). The last straw was her accusing me behind my back of stealing her cell phone (which, it turns out, she had left in the ladies lounge… And then her joking with our mutual supervisor about what a hippopotamus I am). I can only imagine what is said when I am within earshot. Yet I cannot sue. B/c I’m white and being fat is not yet a protected status. If I was not white I’d have a great case, I’d be suing them for millions and probably winning.

I support the protection of minorities in the workplace, but when those laws are used to justify the harrassment of non-minority staff and there are no similar laws to protect anyone irregardless of their color, sex, religion or disability then there’s something wrong. Why should any of us go to work and be treated poorly for no other reason than someone feels like it? Why must hate and abuse be tolerated by some while others have the full weight of the law behind them to fight back… often for the same type of abuse?

Why isn’t there protection for those people who are being bullied at work? Should we just shut up and take it? No, I don’t think we should… but I’m an engineer not a lawyer and wouldn’t know the first thing about how to change the status quo. I sincerely hope that someday things are different so other people in my situation can effectively fight back.
John Phillips says:
March 7, 2010 at 9:12 pm

J Beskin
fastmailforjody@yahoo.com | 98.211.18.140

Being TN is the right-to-work state, I would love to see activists who have time to initiate a work-place bullying law. I lived all over the states and have found TN to be the absolute WORST in workplace ethics. “Jerry Springer” entrees would be an understatement. I have had mean-spirited co-workers, then when I was in Sales, had evil back-biting spvrs there as well. That women can bully and harass, or that anyone can name-call is beyond my understanding of what can be allowed to the point that the people have to take meds just do deal with their workplace environment ! I now work for myself, and joke that any smart or even attractive or even non-native TN woman would have more dignity working on Dickerson Rd. here. Something needs to be done to make the workplace better, as they are against unions here. Given the nature of some of the people, union is not always the answer anyway.

From Is bullying in the workplace against the law?, 2010/02/18 at 8:49 PM
John Phillips says:
March 7, 2010 at 9:14 pm

J Beskin
fastmailforjody@yahoo.com | 98.211.18.140

I perfectly understand the cases above are one of zillions where people are afraid to talk, for fear of losing their job. Alot of people here are on meds for panic attacks in order to DEAL with their abusive workplace.
This would be an earmark case, if an attorney would use its investigators to do a 20/20-like investigation. Manufacturing is probably the most evil of all, where I have seen blatent forms of harrassment/bullying and it could easily be video-taped for proper documentation. I just found your website, being I was just wondering what has been done about bullying in TN.

From Is bullying in the workplace against the law?, 2010/02/18 at 8:59 PM
John Phillips says:
March 7, 2010 at 9:31 pm

slhiaz
elyzybyth@gmail.com | 131.229.129.128

I am in the middle of it right now in between my supervisor and the Director and I can’t say anything or I’m afraid I’ll lose my job. I am on anxiety meds and meds for GERD and I feel very stuck and stressed. Not many jobs out there, believe me I’ve been looking for 2 years. I won employee of the year in ‘06 as the admin. assistant for the same department and now that I’m in a higher position, I’ve been treated totally different. I just about walked out today when I told the Director I was going home because I have Laryngitis and she asked me not to go home in case any questions came up. 5 hours later – not 1 damn question.

From Is bullying in the workplace against the law?, 2010/02/25 at 2:08 PM