Should Workplace Bullying Be Illegal?

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by Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D. 

Should Workplace Bullying Be Illegal? 

Resources for combating workplace bullying. 

Published on March 10, 2011 

I'm certainly not a lawyer, and I am not a recognized expert on 

bullying, but I do know about leadership and best organizational 

practices. As an I/O psychologist, I'm also aware of legal issues in 

the workplace and how they impact the practice of organizational 

psychology. So, it is often puzzling how legislation works, but it is 

clear that the development of laws and regulations is often a 

haphazard process. 

Take workplace bullying. It constitutes a form of harassment, but 

bullying itself is not illegal. However, it is illegal to harass or 

discriminate against someone who is in a protected group (i.e., 

harassment based on sex, race, age, disability, color, creed, national 

origin, or religion). The problem is that bullying behavior often 

"flies under the radar screen" and often does not get defined as 

"harassment." 

Here are some differences between harassment and bullying. You will 

see that the bully is often able to keep the bullying from rising up 

to the harassment level - to keep from getting caught and punished. 

•     Harassment is often physical (e.g., unwanted touching, use of force) 

while bullying is psychological and verbal (often not using cursing or 

obscene language, which would then cross the threshold into 

harassment). 

•     Bullying targets anyone, so many victims are not members of 

protected groups, or the bully and victim are from the same group. 

•     Harassment is often obvious and focused on the victim's group 

membership. Bullying is typically more subtle and begins as mild 

criticism and then escalates or persists. 

Bullying results from the inadequacies of the bully. Typically, 

bullies choose targets who threaten the bully's self-image, so targets 

are often highly competent, accomplished, popular employees. This 

actually makes it harder for the victim to get authorities to take 

notice ("You are a successful worker, I don't see what the problem 

is..."). 

There is some good news! To date, 20 states are exploring legislation 

that would put bullying on the legal radar screen. Much of this 

legislation is focused on creating healthier - both physically and

psychologically - workplaces. In the meantime, it is important to 

educate people about workplace bullying and to fight back. 

Here are some resources: 
http://www.bullyonline.org/workbully/bully.htm 
http://capsbullypreventioncenter.com/2011/02/08/is-bullying-illegal/ 
http://www.californiasexualharassmentlawblog.com/2010/07/workplac... 
http://www.healthyworkplacebill.org 
http://www.workplacebullying.org 
http://www.bullyfreeworkplace.org 
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http://twitter.ronriggio 

Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D.

Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D., is the Henry R. Kravis Professor of Leadership and Organizational Psychology and former Director of the Kravis Leadership Institute at Claremont McKenna College. Professor Riggio is the author of over 100 books, book chapters, and research articles in the areas of leadership, assessment centers, organizational psychology and social psychology. His most recent books are The Art of Followership and The Practice of Leadership(Jossey-Bass, 2008, 2007), Applications of Nonverbal Behavior (co-edited with Robert S. Feldman; Erlbaum, 2005), and Transformational Leadership (2nd ed.), coauthored with Bernard M. Bass (Erlbaum, 2006). Professor Riggio is an Associate Editor of The Leadership Quarterly, and is on the Editorial Boards of Leadership,Leadership Review, Group Dynamics, and the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, and he was the originator of the Shoptalk column at the Los Angeles Times, a Q&A column dealing with workplace problems/issues.

http://www.healthyworkplacebill.org http://www.workplacebullying.org