There's been a lot of activity and proposed legislation in numerous states, California included, about new bullying laws. So what exactly is bullying and how does it affect both employees and employers in 2009?
Bullying is the repeated use of aggressive or unreasonable behavior against employees. It can come in the form of verbal, physical or even psychological formats. Several states are seeking new legislation to fight this form of harassment, and some have made significant progress. I reported on Massachusetts recently on my website, and the work they've been doing. California has a number of efforts underway as well. As I reported last Month following my article on Massachusetts, this type of abuse is four times more prevalent than sexual harassment alone.
This is clearly a growing problem for a violation of people's rights that aren't protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The Massachusetts targets workplace harassment, bullying, and mobbing without regard to protected class status.
In my efforts to promote education and awareness of workplace harassment, I met a documentary producer out of New York, a hardworking, creative and dedicated woman named Beverly Peterson. She works with a group called No Job Is Worth This. I've promoted her videos dealing with workplace bullying on my website, and I'll reference her website below. I welcome your comments or help introducing other related groups you'd like us to contact and promote in this site. I'm very interested in sharing information for a worthy cause, and to improve the workplace experience for everyone.
Please visit www.nojobisworththis.com and view all of Ms. Peterson's documentaries on bullying and workplace harassment. After you've viewed her documentaries, I welcome an exchange of opinions and dialogue on this important subject, so please write to me to express your views.
Please write to me at this address or my private email at normarae2008@gmail.com to give me your ideas, insights, or other topics you'd like us to consider.
Comments
Hi Peggy,
I too, had the pleasure of speaking with Beverly Peterson. She is a woman on a mission & rightly so! Catch my Chicago interview and hope folks know how important this legislation is.
Clara Freeman
I beg your pardon, Peggy, you have certainly NOT done your research on the subject of workplace bullying very well at all! Go to workplacebullying dot org, go to
bullyfreeworkplace dot org, go to newworkplace dot wordpress dot com to find out who the actual author of the Healthy Workplace Bill is, who has spent the last 12 years pioneering, researching, and surveying the conditions of workplace bullying, and who spend endless hours responding to website emails to people who have become targets of workplace bullying and seek to move out of the insanity and isolation of this phenomenon.
For being a journalist, you have certainly not researched your sources very well at all. Beverly is new to this work. Plagiarism is all too common when it comes to trying to take credit for other people’s work. You need to do your homework on this one, Peggy!
Beverly Peterson should be highly commended on her work that she had done on this topic at her own expense traveling across the country to film the stories of people who have been targeted by workplace bullies. As a target of this form of violence myself and state coordinator of New York, Beverly has been in valueable getting personal stories out in the public eye of what happens when an employer supports this types of violence, even at their own expense. We have been educating people for decades to think, reason and create, yet employers like some of those portrayed by Beverly just don't care that talent is a reason to get rid of someone. Keep up the great work Bev. Mike
Thanks for your note on workplace bullying. It's an important topic that needs much more publicity. I've had some first hand experience with being the target of a bully at my previous employer, St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho, and have written several article about it under the title "Workplace Psychological Abuse" on my blog "The Cambium Level" at www.leonardnolt.blogspot.com, if you are interested in hearing more.
Sincerely,
Leonard Nolt
LeonardNolt@AOL.com
I appreciate the encouraging comments from everyone, particularly the referrals for additional sites for further information. A great CEO I worked for once said, "I don't expect you to have all of the answers. I do expect you to ask all of the right questions." Over the next few articles, I'll raise questions and bring forward information I gather on workplace bullying. I'll contact the sites some of you mentioned, and I encourage further commentary on this most important topic. I won't try to present all of the information I gather in one article, nor was that my intention in the first introductory piece.
Thank you for writing, and I'll pass the compliments on to Beverly Peterson. Yes, she is doing outstanding work, and yes, I would like to meet others who are fighting the cause.
As I mentioned earlier, we're on the same side of the issue on this one. I oppose bullying, and wish to do my part to support victims and the cause in these pages.
Puleez - the only names that should be stated in respect to the most long-term and determined work in the field of workplace bullying are: Gary and Ruth Namie and the Healthy Workplace Bill. They and the state coordinators have spent 1,000s of hours of work in this field for over 12 years and they deserve the credit.
I,too,commend Beverly's personal time and passion to ALL of our efforts to see that there are laws passed that will make bullying in the workplace illegal. I think it is a shame, Michelle and Joan, that you cannot see that Beverly is working tirelessly to get the "human aspect" of the destruction that bullying does to peoples lives in the workplace. When we go to Albany, we go armed with WBI information and proposed bill and visit everybody we can.
I have read Peggy's article thoroughly several times and NO WHERE do I see any kind of plagerism and NO WHERE do I see that she is trying to take credit away from anybody. Beverly does not do this for HERSELF. She does this for all of us. Joan...I watched your piece on Good Morning America and I went through everything that you did. We are all the same working towards the same cause, we are just doing it in any way that we can! This has to be a joint effort if we are to see a bill passed! Blocking others' efforts is counterproductive
I know Beverly to be a talented lady who puts a human face to the problem of bullying. I am sure we are all grateful to those who started the movement and to those committed to furthering discussion and enactment of legislation to prevent further bullying. I applaud Peggy and Bev, and those individuals who have been willing to share their own stories . For goodness sake, stop arguing about who was first and stick to the real problem!
I have met Beverly Peterson, am familiar with her documentaries, and am grateful for the awareness her films will achieve in our movement. Her cause is just and her dedication is above reproach. I speak as someone, whose heart has been broken. My beloved niece is dead. Psychological harassment in the workplace drove her to such a dark place, she could not find her way back. She succumbed to suicide. Believe me, when I say, No Job is Worth This! I am more grateful than words can express, to all of you, across this nation, who are working so hard to bring this despicable behavior to the forefront of public awareness. Only by doing so, will our politicians realize the importance of the legislation we are impatiently awaiting passage. I commend all of you, the known and the unknown, for the hours of dedication devoted to striking down this mean spirited behavior so prevalent in the labor force. On behalf of my family, I thank all of you who have reached out to us in our grief. I am just no
Thanks for your support and responses!I gladly recognize those who came before me, not the least of which is John Grierson who coined the phrase documentary and whose tradition I am helping push forward into the cyber world.And, of course my personal mentors Lora Hays and George Stoney who are legend in my field and who opened my eyes early on to the power video plays as an educational tool in the struggle against unfair labor practices. There have been many scholarly texts, articles and films that detail the commitment of these powerful pioneers thus freeing me to present new ideas. The joy of being part of a movement is that each new voice brings a new perspective and ‘piece of the puzzle.’ There are already numerous texts,articles and blogs that document the historic work of pioneers like the Namies who first brought the European struggle against workplace bullying to the US. I am excited that I can now add my own unique voice to this tapestry of ideas as we push toward legislation
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