Comments on: Workplace bullying bills

By: juliemarg

juliemarg — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 19:56:40 +0000

In theory you are right – but actuality is sometimes different. I love the work I do and the product I sell is absolutely the best, but the general manager of our facility is the devil. The enormous corporation I work for either doesn’t care or doesn’t pay attention. We are abused wives making the choice to leave the home we love or stay with the horrible husband.

By: Ben Leichtling

Ben Leichtling — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:32:06 +0000

Hi Ted,

Yes, bullying bosses create hostile, abusive workplaces. Everyone suffers. Even productivity suffers as turnover rises.

I’m a consultant, not a lawyer, so I focus on the individual in that situation; not on the legal system.

If you work for a bully, don’t take it. What’s the effect of tolerating bullies? Slow erosion of your soul.

There are a lot of things you can try in order to shine a light on the abusive behavior and get help from the top. But if they won’t act to rectify the situation, get out of there. Take charge of your own life. Don’t wait for the system to rescue you.

Best wishes,
Ben

By: Jon Hyman

Jon Hyman — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:32:27 +0000

I could not agree more with Nevins. Bad bosses beget transitory workforces and ultimately cannot succeed as bosses because of their revolving door. Good bosses create loyalty, retain good employees, and succeed accordingly. Imposing liability merely for being subjected to a bad boss sets a dangerous precedent that has the real potential to eliminate the "at will" from all such employment relationships. Nevertheless, this trend unfortunately seems to be catching on. An Ohio appellate court just affirmed an unemployment award for an employee who quit because his boss was, for lack of a better term, an ass. See http://ohioemploymentlaw.blogspot.com/2008/02/bullying-boss-justifies-unemployment.html

By: bob enal

bob enal — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:49:50 +0000

It’s becoming such a joke. It’s not worth being on the defense side in employment law b/c companies are afraid to fight anymore. Between judges, juries, and lawmakers, the goal of income redistribution to the worst performers in our society is well underway.

By: throckmorton

throckmorton — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 10:01:00 +0000

If this case were to go through, could I sue my former drill instructor? I mean he was mean, belligerent and a bully? You talk about abusive!

By: Penfold

Penfold — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 09:51:01 +0000

Time to bone up on employment law and switch to plaintiff’s work. Who needs activist judges when you have asinine legislators.

By: nevins

nevins — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 07:56:50 +0000

You’d kinda think the free market would take care of this sort of thing. If the employees are treated poorly, then they should be able to find passive-aggressive ways to ensure that productivity goes down, that ourside contacts and vendors catch the bad vibes, that bad boss’s boss gets wind. Finally people are not indentured; they can vote with their feet.