Freedom Week: A Call to Stop
Workplace Bullying
(Hartford, CT) Freedom from Workplace Bullies Week, October
19-25, 2014 is a national awareness-raising event sponsored by the Workplace
Bullying Institute (WBI). “Freedom Week is the chance to break through the
shame and silence surrounding workplace bullying,” says Dr. Gary Namie, WBI
co-founder and co-author of The Bully-FreeWorkplace: Stop Jerks, Weasels, and Snakes From Killing Your Organization
(Wiley, 2011).
WBI defines Workplace
Bullying as abusive conduct committed by one or more perpetrators. According to
the latest scientific WBI national survey, over one-quarter of adult Americans,
27%, have been the target of workplace bullying. A startling 65 million
Americans are negatively affected by abusive conduct at work. Damages include
harm to employee health and job loss; employers suffer lost productivity and
lawsuits.
It’s an epidemic but fear of
losing one’s job in these tough economic times leads to underreporting. It’s a
silent epidemic.
“I lost a close friend who
committed suicide in 2005,” remembers Dr. Katherine Hermes, a history professor
at Central Connecticut State University. “When she tried to report the abusive
conduct, it was called a personality conflict. We didn’t know what to call what
happened to her until finding the Workplace Bullying Institute, which explained
the phenomenon. Now I understand it is like domestic violence. It does the same
thing to a person, inducing shame, pain and health problems from stress,
including PTSD.” Both men and women can experience workplace bullying.
“I want to make sure every
workplace is free from bullying, so that is why I formed Connecticut HealthyWorkplace Advocates,” Hermes says. “We spread information through social media
like Twitter and Facebook, and we advocate for legislation. Conscientious
managers and employers can learn to stop it.”
In years past, several cities
and counties across the country have proclaimed “Freedom from Workplace Bullies
Week,” including New London, Newtown, Torrington, and New Milford. This year the town of Chaplin and the city of Groton have issued proclamations. CentralConnecticut State University President Jack Miller has proclaimed Freedom Week
on his campus for the last several years and has done so again in 2014. It is a
time for bullied individuals and their families to plan ways to leave damaging
jobs. Unions should awake to bullying within their ranks. Employers should
commit to stop the preventable losses. Lawmakers can introduce a state bill to
curb bullying in the workplace called the Healthy Workplace Bill.
The first Connecticut state
version of the Healthy Workplace Bill, SB 371, was introduced in the General
Assembly by Sen. Thomas Colapietro in 2007. It was heard in the Labor and
Public Employees Committee chaired by Sen. Edith Prague, who also introduced it
the next year. In 2009, 2010 and 2012, various bills concerning workplace
bullying using some language from the Healthy Workplace Bill have been
introduced. Current Labor and Public Employees Committee co-chair Sen. GaryHolder-Winfield has introduced and supported bills on workplace bullying in the
past. Puerto Rico’s legislature passed the Healthy Workplace Bill in 2014, but
the governor vetoed it.
Contact:
Connecticut Healthy Workplace
Advocates
Coordinator: Katherine
Hermes, J.D., Ph.D.
Email: ctbullybusters@gmail.com
Contact:
Gary Namie, Director, WBI,
360-656-6630
WBI is the first and only
research and education U.S. organization dedicated to the eradication of
abusive conduct in the workplace.
