Connecticut Healthy Workplace Advocates

LGBTQ People in the Closet at Work

2011-10-16T10:21:00.000-04:00

Connecticut Freedom From Workplace Bullies Week Speaker Karen Sumberg, Director of the Center for Work-Life Policy, NEW YORK and author of a study on Gays In the Closet at Work Tuesday, October 18, 2011
4:30 pm-6:00 pm Founders Hall, inside Davidson Hall, at Central Connecticut State University Click HERE http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?id=2272&verbose=4592&backcal=1 for more information

The Power of "Out" by by Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Karen SumbergUntil now, the direct line has not been clearly drawn between the corporate closet and the revolving door. New research from the Center for Work-Life Policy quantifies the loss to U.S. companies that fail to create a workplace hospitable to their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees. Our data show the consequences of LGBT employees forced to keep their lives and loved ones a secret from colleagues. Also included in the report are cutting-edge initiatives employed by a range of companies to break down barriers for their LGBT employees.

Our Speaker at 4:30 on Tuesday, Oct. 18, Karen Sumberg, Director of the Center for Work-Life Policy, gave this interview with NPR: http://www.npr.org/2011/07/07/137672101/coming-to-work-but-not-coming-out

CONNECTICUT FREEDOM FROM WORKPLACE BULLIES WEEK, OCT 16-22, 2011

2011-09-30T10:33:00.000-04:00

CONNECTICUT FREEDOM FROM WORKPLACE BULLIES WEEK:

Oct. 17, 10 am at Torrington City Hall, Mayor Ryan Bingham will proclaim Freedom From Workplace Bullies Week. Other mayors who will make proclamations: East Haven, Milford, Newtown. (There is still time to ask your mayor. Contact kathyhermes@rocketmail.com by Oct. 6. We have a prepared text.).

October 18: Speaker Karen Sumberg, DIRECTOR of the Center for Work-Life Policy, NEW YORK and author of a study on Gays In the Closet at Work. FOUNDERS HALL. 4:30 pm-6:00 pm.

October 20: "Is Connecticut Ready for Healthy Workplaces?: A Forum on Law, Psychology, and Society's Response to Abusive Conduct in the Workplace." Speakers include Tom Witt of New York Health Workplace Advocates, and Vicki J. Magley, Ph.D. Department of Psychology-University of Connecticut. Diloreto 001, 6:30-8:30 pm.

Please invite friends, students, colleagues! For more info about events, email hermesk@ccsu.edu.

Parking is free. You can use any lot, but the Manafort lot is closest.
Map of campus: http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?p=4191
Directions: http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?p=1378

The New Britain Library will also have a display throughout November on workplace bullying.

We also have T-shirts for sale for $15 at events. Cash or check.

Thank you for your support.

Kathy Hermes
Connecticut Healthy Workplace Advocates on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/5103936939/
Connecticut Freedom from Workplace Bullies Week on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=199136926803783

Meeting Saturday June 18, 2011 at 2 pm for all interested people

2011-06-16T08:06:00.001-04:00

Strategy Meeting for Workplace Bullying

From:	Kathy Hermes View Contact
To:	Connecticut Bullybusters

Strategy meeting to Pass a Healthy Workplace Bill in CT in 2012

Time	18 June · 14:00 - 15:30

Location	Tony's Central Pizza Place1537 Stanley Street New Britain, CT 06053-3200 (860) 225-5625 Bus: Paul Manafort Dr and Facuity Lot D

Created by:	Kathy Hermes

For	Connecticut Healthy Workplace Advocates

More info	Pizza is on me if you RSVP. Legislative materials will be available.

Katherine A. Hermes, J.D., Ph.D.

Volunteer Coordinator

Connecticut Healthy Workplace Advocates
http://www.change.org/connecticut_healthy_workplace_advocates
http://groups.google.com/group/connecticut-bullybusters
http://ctbullybusters.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5103936939

New York Healthy Workplace Advocates Press Conference

2011-05-04T08:02:00.002-04:00

Tom Witt, Mike Schlicht, Senator Diane Savino, Senator Shirley L. Huntley, and Assemblyman Steve Englebright made introductory remarks at the New York Healthy Workplace Bill Press conference May 2, 2011. Maria Morrissey spoke about her brother Kevin Morrissey's suicide. Kathy Hermes discussed the suicide of Marlene Braun. Ken Kamholtz described his workplace bullying as a police officer.

http://healthyworkplacebill.org/blog/ny-press/

Connecticut Healthy Workplace coordinator Katherine Hermes helped New York Healthy Workplace Advocates lobby for the Healthy Workplace Bill in New York. It has wide support across both parties. Over 60 Assembly representatives have signed on and last year the bill passed the NY Senate. We hope that it goes forward this year and is signed by Gov. Cuomo.

New York Healthy Workplace Advocates Press Release: Press Conf. and Town Meeting May 2, 2011

2011-04-28T10:51:00.000-04:00

PRESS CONFERENCE

Senator Diane Savino and Assemblyman Steve Englebright

New York State Nurses Association,

NY Healthy Workplace Advocates, Maria Morrissey, and Kathy Hermes,

and others to speak at Workplace Bullying Press Conference

S4289 / A4258 Healthy Workplace Bill

Monday, May 2, 2011

12:00pm at the LCA Room

Legislative Office Building

TOWN HALL MEETING

Interactive Presentation & Discussion

Beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Room 711A , Legislative Office Building

Open to the General Public

Senator Diane Savino and Assemblyman Steve Englebright will discuss New York State's workplace bullying legislation A4258 / S4289. Maria Morrissey, the sister of workplace bullying target, Kevin Morrissey, will speak about the importance of such legislation. Kathy Hermes, the friend of bullying target, Marlene Braun, will also speak about the need for the legislation.

Marlene Braun, d. May 2, 2005

In 2010, Maria Morrissey lost her brother Kevin Morrissey, managing editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, published by the University of Virginia, to suicide, due to workplace bullying. In spite of numerous well documented attempts over several years by Kevin Morrissey to seek help from his employer, little was done to address the situation before he took his life.

Kathy Hermes lost her friend, Marlene Braun, to suicide in California in 2005 because of workplace bullying, with Marlene having been denied transfer requests that would have allowed her to instead work in a healthier environment.

Maria Morrissey and Kathy Hermes are traveling to New York to express the need for a law that will address workplace bullying and will participate in a grassroots lobbying effort on May 2 & 3, 2011.

The current Assembly Bill has over 60 sponsors while the companion bill passed in the Senate last year with a vote of 45 in favor as S1823. Several major unions have issued a Memorandum of Support for the bill, including: AFL-CIO, NYSUT, AFT, DC37, PEF, and the New York State Nurses Association.

As a follow up to the midday Press Conference, a Town Hall Meeting that is open to the general public will be held in Room 711A of the Legislative Office Building beginning at 5:30 p.m. to allow for a more in depth presentation by the afternoon press conference participants and an interactive question and answer period.

Please contact your legislators today, April 21.

2011-04-21T08:55:00.000-04:00

Please contact your legislators. HB 5464 AN ACT CONCERNING STATE EMPLOYEES AND VIOLENCE AND BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE has been reported out of committee and is calendared. We still need to make sure it actually comes up for a vote and gets support!

For a synopsis of the bill: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/BA/2011HB-05464-R000548-BA.htm

To find your legislator: http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/CGAFindLeg.asp

Thank you for all your help in fighting to end Abusive Conduct at work. This is just a first step!

To be involved, please join up at one of our organization's update centers. If you use facebook, look for a group Connecticut Healthy Workplace Advocates. If you use Change.org, we also have a non-profit by that name.

The legislative session is almost over, but we will be planning events and strategies to get a full Healthy Workplace Bill in place next year.

Katherine A. Hermes, J.D., Ph.D.
Volunteer Coordinator
Connecticut Healthy Workplace Advocates
http://www.change.org/connecticut_healthy_workplace_advocates
http://groups.google.com/group/connecticut-bullybusters
http://ctbullybusters.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5103936939

Workplace bullying a serious problem

2011-04-12T11:19:00.000-04:00

Esque Walker

Monday, April 11, 2011

It was a remarkable day for the Texas Healthy Workplace Advocates in
Austin!

On March 24, in the wee hours of the morning, eight women from the
grass roots organization Texas Healthy Workplace Advocates gathered on
the north steps of the state capitol in Austin waiting for the doors
to open.

The women arrived armed and ready to meet with lawmakers in several
political districts across the state of Texas. The women had traveled
from Alvarado, Corsicana, Dallas, Fort Worth, Graham, and Houston to
speak to lawmakers about the prevalence and the devastating
consequences of workplace bullying. The group was there to shop a bill
for the next legislative session the Healthy Workplace Bill; we need
this bill in Texas. The group presented accounts of their bullying
experiences to lawmakers.

There has been an increase in the number of complaints of workplace
bullying in Abilene, El Paso, Houston, and in Dallas and Tarrant
Counties. People in Texas are suffering because of abusive work
environments. Until there are laws we will continue to be plagued with
this problem.

One member in the group stated, “I don’t want to die! But I can no
longer afford to live because of workplace bullying.” The stories
shared with representatives were powerful, touching, and captured the
essence of the problem. We just went in and did what needed to be
done; we told the truth about what has happened to us and other
members of the group. Please do not be fooled by the appearance and
the size of the group, there are a number of men in the group that are
targets of workplace bullying and there are a number of members
throughout the state of Texas.

Overall there is disbelief that this is happening in Texas, shock
about the number of targets in Texas, and this behavior is not within
the legal statutes. In one of the representative’s office, they
couldn’t believe that workplace bullying is happening in Abilene. “It
is a Christian community” is the belief there — I explained to the
aide there is nothing Christian about workplace bullying. I felt sorry
for the guy. He said he had grown up in Abilene and he couldn’t
believe that a “Christian community” such as Abilene would allow this
to happen; he was devastated.

I presented a profile of the Texas cities by ZIP code that have the
highest concentrations of targets; the list showed only 171 targets in
the cities of Abilene, Austin, Conroe, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El
Paso, Fort Worth, Garland, Houston, Irving, Killeen, Midland, Round
Rock, San Antonio, Temple and Waco.

Texas lawmakers have been slow to focus on workplace bullying and the
devastation it is causing, however, I believe a small victory was won
last October when Mayor John Cook and the city council in El Paso took
an initiative to recognize bullying as an adult issue by issuing a
proclamation declaring the third week of October “Freedom from Bullies
week” in El Paso. This is the first official elected to an office to
show interest in the well-being of the people he serves.

Workplace bullying is defined as repeated, health-harming mistreatment
of one or more people by one or more perpetrators that takes one or
more of the following forms: verbal abuse, offensive conduct/behaviors
which are threatening, humiliating, or intimidating and work
interference sabotage.

Additionally, workplace bullying is violence — it is emotional and
psychological destruction of an individual for the satisfaction of
another.

This issue needs immediate attention. Not only does the behavior
impact the targets, their families, and the organizations; society as
a whole is impacted through social welfare programs that targets
forced from the workplace must depend on for survival.

If bullying could be stopped and money once used to support targets on
social welfare programs, Texas politicians would be able to balance
the budget and have money left over for other things.

Esque Walker is the Texas Coordinator for Texas Healthy Workplace
Advocates.

Walmart Can Fire Employee Who Screamed at Another Employee: Store enforced policy

2011-04-08T09:07:00.001-04:00

Appeals court: Wal-mart can fire worker for telling co-worker lesbians go to hell
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/4699034-573/appeals-court-wal-mart-can-fire-worker-for-telling-co-worker-lesbians-go-to-hell.html

BY JAMES SCALZITTI Staff Reporterjscalzitti@suntimes.com Apr 7, 2011 2:09AM

Wal-Mart was within its rights to fire a Joliet store employee who told a lesbian co-worker she would go to hell because God does not accept gays, and the dismissal was not religious discrimination, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Tanisha Matthews began working as an overnight stocker at the Joliet Wal-Mart in 1996, according to court documents. In September 2005, during a break in her shift, Matthews took part in a conversation about God and homosexuality.

The next day, an employee informed a manager that Matthews had made inappropriate comments about gays to a lesbian employee named Amy. Over the next three months, Wal-Mart interviewed employees who were present.

In her statement, Amy reported that Matthews was “screaming over her” that God does not accept gays; they should not “be on earth”; and they will “go to hell” because they are not “right in the head,” according to the appeals court ruling. Five other employees confirmed that Matthews had said gays are sinners who are going to hell, the ruling said.

Wal-Mart fired Matthews after concluding she had engaged in behavior that violated the company’s Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Policy. The policy, which the court said Matthews was aware of at the time of the incident, prohibits employees from engaging in conduct that could reasonably be interpreted as harassment based on an individual’s status, including sexual orientation, and says they can be fired for such conduct.

Matthews, an Apostolic Christian, sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for race and religious discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, claiming she was fired because of her religious beliefs and not for violating company policy.

She voluntarily dismissed the race discrimination claim, and the U.S. District Court in Chicago granted summary judgment to Wal-Mart on her religious-discrimination claim.

In her suit, Matthews claimed Wal-Mart engaged in religious discrimination by firing her for expressing religious beliefs. “But if Matthews is arguing that Wal-Mart must permit her to admonish gays at work to accommodate her religion, the claim fails,” the Appeals Court stated in its decision.

*******
Walmart enforced its policy, but what if it had not? Would the employee who was harassed have been able to mount a successful complaint? There needs to be a law, the Healthy Workplace Bill, because it's the person who is bullied who needs protection when employers don't follow through and fire the bully, or when employers do follow the law, produce the policy, but the bully continues in spite of it or more clandestinely.

The decision also shows that a store like Walmart, which really does cater to a kind of "middle American," recognized in 2005 that this kind of behavior toward a lesbian employee was wrong and needed to be stopped.

Forum in Litchfield Targets Bullying: Litchfield County Times

2011-03-31T12:19:00.000-04:00

Here is an excerpt from the article:

By Max Wittstein

LITCHFIELD—In a town where some red-haired students were recently kicked in an incident inspired by an episode of the animated show “South Park,” and in a larger region that includes a school district that lost administrators because of purported bullying and harassment, a discussion held Monday had plenty of context.

The panel discussion with one parent and two professors from Central Connecticut State University was scheduled at Litchfield High School to discuss the growing phenomenon of bullying. (Neither the recent bullying in Litchfield, nor the experience at Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village led directly to Monday’s session.)

Council’s Initiative

The event was set up by Betsy Fabbri and Lori Shuhi, president and vice president of the Student Teachers Parents Council, as part of the STPC’s programs to bring students and teachers together. Close to 30 parents and residents attended.

Dr. Katherine Hermes, a professor of history at CCSU, also spoke at the event. Dr. Hermes pointed out that she was not an expert on the phenomenon of bullying, but had joined the nationwide advocacy on the issue after the suicide of her friend, Marlene Braun.

Ms. Braun, an Army veteran and 13-year employee of the federal Bureau of Land Management, had been bullied by her boss over a difference of opinion in the maintenance of a national landmark of which she as in charge. She took her own life on Aug. 20, 2005.

The story of Ms. Braun’s death made headlines in the Los Angeles Times. Ms. Hermes has since been an advocate against workplace bullying, and has petitioned the Connecticut legislature to examine the phenomenon in its state agencies, including the Connecticut State University system, where she works.

“After 18 months of systematic bullying, this person, who had been a U.S. Army veteran, put a bullet in her brain,” she said. “Many, many people who don’t actually do it, think about it and have tremendous mental and physical health consequences.”

Dr. Hermes said that by the time her friend took her life, she had lost 30 pounds and was suffering from sleep problems.

“People would say to her, ‘Your boss is a jerk,” but we’re not talking about jerks,” she said. “We’re talking about intimidation of someone, such as telling them like a child that they’re not needed at a meeting and should sit in a hall; physical intimidation that is not quite hitting, such as backing them up against a wall. All those things are bullying.”

Talks on Bullying: "You Have the Right to Be Yourself" Spring, 2011

2011-03-23T19:10:00.001-04:00

Press Release

Contact: Joe Mustich, 860.868.7355

President, ACLU NW CT Chapter

March 7, 2011

A Three Part Series on
"You Have the Right to Be Yourself"

March 24, @ 6:30 pm with a talk by
Professor Nan Taylor of UConn
On Domestic Violence, Bullying and Collective Violence

Sponsored by the ACLU NW CT Chapter
Gunn Memorial Library & Museum, Washington, CT
Free and Open to the Public

Thursday, April 21 @ 6pm
Screening of the Laramie Project
Gunn Memorial Library & Musuem, Washington, CT
Free and Open to the Public

Thursday, May 19
Open Forum on Bullying
Register Citizen's Newsroom Cafe @ 6pm
59 Field St, Torrington, CT

Washington, CT...March 1st.....The ACLU NW CT Chapter is very proud to announce its sponsorship of a three part series, on Domestic Violence, Bullying, and Collective Violence, beginning on Thursday, March 24 @ 6:30 pm, with a talk by pyschologist Nan Taylor, PhD of UConn, at the Gunn Memorial Library & Musuem in Washington, CT. The talk is free and open to the public. Dr Taylor's talk will be followed by a question and answer period.

On Thursday, April 21 at 6 pm, the ACLU NW CT Chapter will screen the award winning movie The Laramie Project, which deals with the death of college student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, WY, which is an example of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and trans-gender) violence, at the Gunn Memorial Library & Musuem in Washington, CT. The event is free and open to the public.

On Thursday, May 19, at 6pm, the ACLU NW CT Chapter will sponsor an Open Forum on Domestic Violence, Bullying and Collective Violence at the Newsroom Cafe of the Register Citizen, 59 Field St, Torrington, CT

"Our ACLU chapter decide to tackle the problem of bullying after hearing and reading about the suicides of young people, many of whom were LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi, and trans) youth, late last year," said Joe Mustich, president of the ACLU NW CT Chapter.

"I bought a copy of People magazine last year which had photos of young suicides on its cover, and it sits on my desk in my office, and we knew we needed to do something about it," continued Mustich. Additionally, the ACLU has a site called "You Have the Right to Be Yourself" at http://www.aclu.org/getequal

For additional information, please see:

http://aclu-nwct.blogspot.com

http://aclu-ct.org

http://www.gunnlibrary.org

New CT Bill, LA Times Article, and Recognizing Signs of Bullying

2011-03-19T13:27:00.001-04:00

Please sign our Connecticut petition for the bill currently before the legislature: https://www.change.org/petitions/pass-hb-5464-act-concerning-state-employees-violence-and-bullying-in-the-workplace-in-connecticut#updates

The LA Times has published an interesting article about the Healthy Workplace Bill that is well worth reading: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-workplace-bullying-20110319,0,1767245.story
State bills against workplace bullying gain traction
Proponents say workplace bullying is widespread and procedures for dealing with it are ineffective. They back a model called the 'Healthy Workplace Bill.'

Texas Healthy Workplace Advocates has gained some recognition across the state, and this article offers some tips about how to recognize bullying in the workplace, which can be subtle and not always easy to admit: http://www.reporternews.com/news/2011/mar/18/abilene-workers-complaining-about-bullying-says/

Suzy Fox, a workplace researcher, has identified six common types of workplace bullying.

“Any of those, any one of us does once in a while,” Fox said. It’s when a pattern of behavior develops that bullying takes place, she said.

- Threatening or intimidating behavior. This can be verbal threats or nonverbal, like glaring, Fox said. Cyberbullying also can fall in this category, Fox added.

- Demeaning behavior. Not only does this include insults and put-downs, but also excessively harsh criticism of job performance, according to Fox.

- Isolation. The silent treatment, said Fox, or leaving the room when someone else enters or excluding them from work meetings.

- Abusive supervision. “That’s threatening you with job loss,” Fox said, or blaming workers for things that aren’t their fault, along with unreasonable work demands.

- Work sabotage. “That’s intentionally destroying or stealing your work or your material,” Fox said.

- Harm to reputation. This includes spreading rumors and also some cyberbullying that can ruin a worker’s reputation, Fox said.

AFT Resolution Against Workplace Bullying

2011-03-15T00:25:00.000-04:00

American Federation of Teachers Resolutions
IN SUPPORT OF A HEALTHY WORKPLACE AND AGAINST WORKPLACE BULLYING
WHEREAS, the American Federation of Teachers resolution on Dignity, Respect and Justice in the Workplace (2009) defines workplace bullying as a "a pattern of coercive, insidious behavior used by one person to gain or exercise power and control over another person and creates a harmful work environment"; and

WHEREAS, workplace bullying has also been defined, by the Work Place Bullying Institute, as the repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons by one or more perpetrators, taking the form of verbal abuse, such as threatening and humiliating or offensive behavior that interferes with or sabotages and prevents the completion of job-related tasks (Work Place Bullying Institute, WBI); and

WHEREAS, according to a Zogby Survey (2007), 54 million or 37 percent of all Americans have reported incidents of bullying in the workplace, and another 12 percent have been a witness to it; and

WHEREAS, the same survey indicates that 45 percent of targets suffer health problems related to bullying, such as stress, loss of sleep, severe anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, reduced immunity to infection, stress-related gastrointestinal disorders, hypertension, pathophysiologic changes that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and other such conditions; and

WHEREAS, the same survey indicates that targets can suffer economic harm through termination, demotion or denial of promotion, and, in 70 percent of cases, targets are forced to leave their jobs voluntarily or involuntarily ("Worry for a Living? Workplace Bullying Report on Abusive Workplace," APA Monitor on Psychology. Volume 37, No. 7 July/August 2006); and

WHEREAS, although 42 percent of bullied employees file a complaint with their employer, 60 percent of such complaints are ignored; and

WHEREAS, the majority of those victimized by this form of harassment are not members of a protected group; and

WHEREAS, workplace bullying, which is generally not prohibited by law in the United States, is four times more prevalent than illegal harassment or discrimination based on sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, age, disabilities and veterans status; and

WHEREAS, fearing possible retaliation, as occurs in 52 percent of cases, victims often suffer in silence ("Worry for a Living? Workplace Bullying Report on Abusive Workplace," APA Monitor on Psychology. Volume 37, No. 7 July/August 2006); and

WHEREAS, every worker has a right to be treated with dignity and respect and to work in a safe and healthy environment, free of verbal and nonverbal abuse, intimidating body language, retaliation and any form of hostility; and

WHEREAS, the AFT's Resolution on Dignity, Respect and Justice in the Workplace (2009) affirms the AFT's core commitment to securing dignity and fairness for all in the workplace; and

WHEREAS, 17 states, including New York and Illinois, have introduced Healthy Workplace Bills to correct this injustice, and some have begun initial passage of the legislation—for example, New York, where the State Senate passed the bill in April 2010; and

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers, which has already resolved to draft legislation that would make workplace bullying illegal, continue to work to see this legislation enacted, if necessary, creating a coalition of support with the AFL-CIO and other unions; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT continue to provide examples of relevant contract language to its locals and that the AFT provide locals and state federations with examples of relevant state legislation, and that the AFT continue to provide information about workplace bullying to its local and state affiliates in order that they might pursue state and local remedies to correct legal victimization of our members and fellow workers.

Should Workplace Bullying Be Illegal?

2011-03-11T14:50:00.000-05:00

BLOGS: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/201103/sh...
Cutting-Edge Leadership

The best in current leadership research and theory, from cultivating

charisma to transforming your organization.

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
Follow me on Twitter:
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

What is a Healthy Workplace? Discussion

2011-03-06T14:59:00.000-05:00

Take the Healthy Workplace Poll sponsored by the AFT: http://leadernet.aft.org/surveymaker/take/survey.cfm?id=dd526352-5056-b94b-11c2-e5e9d9a3e19c

The Women's Issues Committee of the University of Connecticut Professional Employees Association is hosting a talk by Prof. Katherine Hermes, Central Connecticut State University, Wednesday, March 23 -- What is a Healthy Workplace?

Public Testimony Links on HB 5464 AN ACT CONCERNING STATE EMPLOYEES AND VIOLENCE AND BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE

2011-02-21T17:04:00.000-05:00

Public Testimony for HB 5464 AN ACT CONCERNING STATE EMPLOYEES AND VIOLENCE AND BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE can be viewed at this link.
http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/CommDocTmyBillAllComm.asp?bill=HB-05464&doc_year=2011

The Petition on Change.Org from CT Healthy Workplace Advocates was submitted: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/LABdata/Tmy/2011HB-05464-R000217-Change.org-TMY.PDF

The Connecticut State University-American Association of University Professors was submitted: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/LABdata/Tmy/2011HB-05464-R000217-CSU-AAUP-TMY.PDF

Donna Monroe of the University Connecticut Human Resources Office provided testimony and some statistics about UConn: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/LABdata/Tmy/2011HB-05464-R000217-Donna%20Monroe%20-%20UCONN-TMY.PDF

Donna Monroe also presented testimony objecting to defining graduate students as employees: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/LABdata/Tmy/2011HB-05464-R000217-Donna%20Munroe%200%20UCONN-TMY.PDF

The following link is incorrectly labeled with my name, Katherine Hermes, and is in reality the testimony of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/LABdata/Tmy/2011HB-05464-R000217-Katherine%20Hermes-TMY.PDF

Connecticut AFL-CIO submitted testimony: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/LABdata/Tmy/2011HB-05464-R000217-Lori%20Pelletier%20-%20CT%20AFL-CIO-TMY.PDF

The Permanent Commission on the Status of Women submitted: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/LABdata/Tmy/2011HB-05464-R000217-PCSW-TMY.PDF

The University of Connecticut Professional Employees Association submitted: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/LABdata/Tmy/2011HB-05464-R000217-UCPEA-TMY.PDF

Katherine Hermes, Volunteer Co-coordinator for Connecticut Healthy Workplace Advocates: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/LABdata/Tmy/2011HB-05464-R000217-Katherine%20Hermes%20-CT.%20Healthy%20Workplace%20Advocates-TMY.PDF

Linda Denton, Certified Life Coach and Licensed Occupational Therapist: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/LABdata/Tmy/2011HB-05464-R000217-Linda%20Denton-TMY.PDF

Connecticut Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission submitted: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/LABdata/Tmy/2011HB-05464-R000217-St%20of%20Ct.%20Asian%20Pacific%20American%20Affairs%20Commission%20-TMY.PDF

Public Hearing Feb. 17 at 2:00 for Workplace Bullying Bill

2011-02-15T00:13:00.000-05:00

If you want to testify, please get to the LOB Room 3800 by noon to get registered and drop off a copy of any written statement you wish to make. You can just talk without a written statement. Testimony is ordinarily limited to two minutes.

You can email Steve Palmer with any questions about how to testify: steve.palmer@cga.ct.gov.

You can also write an email to your legislators using an email tool at the Workplace Bullying Institute: http://www.healthyworkplacebill.org/states/ct/connecticut.php

LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES COMMITTEE
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2011
2:00 P.M. in Room 2A of the LOB

H.B. No. 5464 (COMM) AN ACT CONCERNING STATE EMPLOYEES AND VIOLENCE AND BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE. *CSU-AAUP has testified in support of this bill in previous sessions

Please ask your union to support this legislation. We are still working on getting a Healthy Workplace Bill for Connecticut for all of our citizens! If you testify, mention the need for it!

Thanks again for being a Connecticut Bullybuster!

Kathy
Katherine A. Hermes, J.D., Ph.D.
Volunteer Coordinator
Connecticut Healthy Workplace Advocates
http://groups.google.com/group/connecticut-bullybusters
http://ctbullybusters.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5103936939

HB 5464 Moves Forward

2011-02-14T02:10:00.000-05:00

Bill 5464 is AN ACT CONCERNING STATE EMPLOYEES AND VIOLENCE AND BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE. On Feb. 9, 2011, "In accordance with the provisions of Senate Rule 9(b), the first reading of the following bills and resolutions was waived, the list of bills and resolutions as prepared by the Clerks was accepted, and the bills and resolutions referred to the Committees as indicated thereon in concurrence..."

Bill Status

www.cga.ct.gov

Connecticut General Assembly Official Legislative Site for Bills, Legislation, Statutes, and sessional activity. Visit our site to find all your legislative informationhttp://www.cga.ct.gov/CGAPBTS.asp?selBillType=Bill&bill_num=HB05464

Pass A Connecticut Healthy Workplace Bill: Please Sign the Petition

2010-12-03T19:42:00.000-05:00

PLEASE CLIICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION: The Healthy Workplace Bill, written by The Workplace Bullying Institute's affiliated law professor, David Yamada, carries no employer mandate, no fiscal impact for the state requiring state agency engagement, and a high threshold of evidentiary proof to assure that only the most serious and egregious cases become lawsuits. It helps employees who have suffered malicious, intention, health-harming abuse from co-workers or bosses, but rewards good employers with escape from liability if they take proactive steps to prevent an abusive work environment. Only chronically bad employers with repeat offenses will be afraid of this incremental legislation.

Connecticut Healthy Workplace Advocates urges Connecticut legislators and its new governor, Dan Malloy, to support this legislation, which has been introduced in prior years.

Over 200 state legislators of both political parties in 17 states since 2003 have sponsored and co-sponsored the anti-abusive conduct Healthy Workplace Bill. The bill has overwhelming support among voters who work for a living.

YOUR LETTER WILL GO TO YOUR OWN LEGISLATORS IN CONNECTICUT. HERE IS THE TEXT:

Dear Members of the Connecticut General Assembly:

I am signing this petition as a Connecticut constituents who supports a Healthy Workplace Bill. It's time to independently trust your heart, to listen to individuals in your district! If employers have to abuse employees to operate, they should lose their right to conduct business or to serve the pubic. We deserve a healthy, productive, safe working environment.

We desire a healthy workplace bill that contains the following provisions, as outlined by the Workplace Bullying Institute:

Precisely defines an "abusive work environment" -- it is a high standard for misconduct

Requires proof of health harm by licensed health or mental health professionals

Protect conscientious employers from vicarious liability risk when internal correction and prevention mechanisms are in effect

Gives employers the reason to terminate or sanction offenders

Requires plaintiffs to use private attorneys

Plugs the gaps in current state and federal civil rights protections

Provides an avenue for legal redress for health harming cruelty at work

Allows those whose health has been intentionally harmed to sue the bully as an individual

Holds the employer accountable if the employer has taken no action to stop the abusive conduct

Seeks restoration of lost wages and benefits

Compels employers to prevent and correct future instances.

The Healthy Workplace Bill will not

Involve state agencies to enforce any provisions of the law

Incur costs for adopting states

Require plaintiffs to be members of protected status groups (it is "status-blind")

Use the term "workplace bullying"

The Healthy Workplace Bill information can be found at http://www.healthyworkplacebill.org/bill.php

Thank you for your consideration and concern for the workers of our state and for good employment practices.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

New York Senate Passes Bi-Partisan Healthy Workplace Bill; Wall Street Journal Freaks Out!

2010-05-15T23:53:00.000-04:00

Please leave comments on the site of the article.

State Anti-Bully Law Would Let Workers Sue for Nastiness

Comments (16)

By R.M. Schneiderman

Amid the furor over Gov. Paterson’s furlough plan this week, few seemed to notice when the state Senate passed a bipartisan measure on Wednesday that would give workers who have been physically, psychologically or economically abused by their employers the ability to sue in civil court.

But opponents of the law, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, are quickly lining up to say the measure’s passage in the state Assembly would result in lots of costly litigation.

One major issue: how to define what is and what isn’t abuse.

“Just because you’re fired doesn’t mean you were abused,” said Stephen Powers, the counsel to State Sen. Thomas Morahan, the bill’s sponsor.

Before filing a suit, a plaintiff would have to notify his or her employer of a pattern of abuse and must give the employer time to address the issue. Workers would also have to prove an employer acted maliciously.

Yet critics say the process of determining abuse can be complicated, and passage could lead to a spike in litigation, especially in New York City.

The bill states that verbal abuse includes derogatory remarks. “Who hasn’t worked in a workplace where there aren’t derogatory remarks?” said Jim Copland, the director of the Center for Legal Policy at the right-leaning Manhattan Institute. “Big corporate law firms, trading floors, these are exceptionally abusive work environments,” he said. “People are yelling, people are cursing, this is what happens.”

In a statement on Friday, the Bloomberg administration expressed opposition to the measure.

Supporters, including labor unions, say that workers currently have little recourse when they’ve been bullied at work. They cite a study by Zogby International and the Workplace Bullying Institute, a Washington State-based nonprofit, that found 37% of all Americans say they have experienced bullying on the job. Of that group, 45% of respondents reported stress-related health problems such as panic attacks and depression.

As it stands, workers in New York can sue their employers and co-workers for discrimination based on race, sex, age, disability, religion and sexual orientation.

Similar legislation is pending in 16 other states. If passed here, it would mark the first time a state established a standard, across-the-board civil mechanism for abuse and harassment claims.

“This is a tax on employment that instead of going to the government, it goes to lawyers,” said the Manhattan Institute’s Copland.

But it’s precisely that cost that will curb abusive workplace practices, countered David Yamada, the bill’s author and a professor of law at Suffolk University in Boston.

“The main impact of that bill will be preventive,” he said.

First introduced in 2008, the bill is currently in the labor committee of the state Assembly. Susan John, the committee’s head, says the bill would create a disincentive for companies to relocate to New York and may even lead some to leave the state.

“No other state in the country has a law like this,” she said.

Proponents like Yamada say it’s unlikely one provision would cause businesses to move. If the bill passes, he said, other states would likely follow suit.

Let's all help push NY Assembly Labor Comm Chair Susan John to move the bill.

Here's the page that only requires you check the boxes and fill in your message.

http://healthyworkplacebill.org/takeaction/hwb_writeofficial2.php?state=NY

African American Women, Microaggressions, and Workplace Bullying

2010-05-12T16:58:00.000-04:00

These articles were distributed to several people via the Ruthe Boyea Women's Center at CCSU. I think they are very interesting, pertinent articles about the workplace and our understanding of workplace bullying, abusive conduct, and intimidation.

Helping Black Women to Navigate Troubled Waters African American women at predominantly white colleges and universities are parched for support and validation that what they're experiencing is real.
  When Christina Davis was in her first year as assistant director of residential life at the predominantly white University of Vermont, a game of Capture the Flag raised problems at a camp for resident assistants (RAs). Capture the Flag can get rough and physical. Afterward a white RA complained that black graduate student Daphne Wells had attacked her.
Davis investigated and concluded that no attack had taken place. The white RA charged favoritism by one African American woman to another and took her complaint higher up. Dr. Stacey Miller, director of residence life and Davis’s supervisor at the time, called them together to discuss the deep difference in perceptions.
Did I intimidate you, or do you feel intimidated by me? The two are not the same. “At the end of the day, I see the world very differently than she does,” Davis told WIHE.
Micro-aggressions
Racism is a permanent part of American life. Microaggressions— subtle insults, sometimes unconscious—are common; 90% of black women say they’ve experienced discrimination, 10% remember being called “nigger” and 69% report having met bias or discrimination based on gender.
Micro-aggressions can leave the recipient wondering if something really happened. “You think you’re going crazy,” Miller said. Not every slight is about race or gender, but many are. Naming your truth brings in the sanity factor.
Wells collected students’ stories about their experiences for her master’s degree research. “Hey, we’re all struggling,” Miller said. She, Davis and Wells discussed how to better support black women to achieve professional success at NASPA annual conference in Chicago in March.
“Girl . . . You in Danger! Navigating the Shark Infested Waters of Student Affairs/Higher Education” is the subtitle of the presentation they put together two years ago, presented twice so far at NASPA and twice at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education.
They’re almost always overwhelmed by the numbers who show up each time they offer it. African American women at predominantly white colleges and universities are parched for support and validation that what they’re experiencing is real.
Today Wells is a doctoral student at Morgan State University MD. Davis is director of student life at Whitman College, Princeton University NJ, and starting a doctoral program at Rutgers. And Miller is still at the University of Vermont, “Big Momma” and mentor to African American students and staff.
Success at what cost?
Wells drives a stick-shift car. When heavy traffic makes her constantly move it back and forth, her arm begins to hurt. It’s similarly exhausting to have to shift behavior from setting to setting, group to group and even minute to minute— conversing naturally in the hallway, then lowering the volume when a white person walks by. Charisse Jones and Kumea Shorter-Gooden popularized the term shifting in their book Shifting: The Double Lives of Black Women in America (HarperCollins 2003).
Behavior changes with context. Most black women report that they’ve shifted to fit in or gain acceptance by white people—changing how they speak, toning down mannerisms and avoiding controversial topics in favor of topics they think interest whites. It’s very tiring. At home you can be relaxed and comfortable, but if you’re large, loud and gregarious you’d better tone it down at work.
“It’s really about making other people comfortable,” Miller said. Many people experience this, including many white women, but it’s especially frequent for black women because of stereotyping. “I’m always seen as intimidating, regardless of how I walk in the room.”
Many also give up parts of themselves to support the success of black men. They downplay their abilities and strengths to make the man look good. Sometimes it results from self-doubt and pressure to fulfill traditional gender roles. Another factor is whether to be a good ally for the sake of all.
“One of you represents all of you,” Davis said. If one African American comes late to a meeting or isn’t prepared, it sets up negative expectations for all. So women have a positive motive to help their men succeed, even if it means not getting the credit. “You’re not always the one in the spotlight but the one doing the work in the background,” she said.
Because they stick out in a mostly white crowd, black women feel pressure to work toward social invisibility, conform and avoid mistakes. To complicate matters, while they’re pushed to become less conspicuous socially, they must struggle to be visible professionally.
They’re likely to be excluded from peer networks and overlooked for promotions. They face less cutthroat competition than in corporate life, but plenty of isolation and lack of support. If they succeed a white man in office, subordinates may question their authority. If there’s another black woman anywhere on campus, everyone confuses the two.
If they’re on faculty, their research subjects may be marginalized. They’re doubly marginalized in student affairs, which is lower than it deserves on the college totem pole. Miller said of student affairs, “We’re not the head on the dog, but we’re not just the tail.”
Unearthly expectations
“Black don’t crack” refers to the tendency of dark skin to wrinkle less with age than light skin. Looking young is a mixed blessing for women in leadership. People question whether you belong in leadership because of how you look.
At age 31, Davis is often mistaken for a student. Last year, new at Whitman College and attending freshman orientation, she was asked if she was a freshman. No, she had to explain, she was the director of student life—the one in charge. “I belong at the big kids’ table,” she said.
Straight white men carry the look of leadership without effort, while black women of equal status and competence struggle for credibility. Miller introduces herself as “Dr.” to prevent pushback. Many studies of unconscious bias confirm that black women need to do more to be considered just as good.
Students of color seek them out. It’s a fine line to figure out how deeply to become engrossed in students’ lives and still maintain an administrative or supervisory role. Rich white kids expect lots of attention because they’re paying high tuition and feel entitled, chewing up more time unless clear boundaries are established early.
While students come to them in droves, they’re isolated and peripheral to colleagues. They get put on lots of committees as token representatives. “We have to work harder. Can we work harder and still have a social life?” Davis asked.
Last on the list
Some sacrifice is good, like taking time to support students or pursue an advanced degree. But factors specific to African American women intensify the constant balancing act—shared by most women and many men—how far to sacrifice self and personal life for professional advancement.
“We have a tendency to work ourselves to the ground,” Miller said. Women tend to take on other people’s needs and put themselves last on the list.
At their workshops at NASPA and NCORE, they offer a toolbox to help African American women deal with these issues in their professional lives. When time allows, they make the sessions participatory and use breakout groups. “It takes on a new life each time we present it. The good value comes from listening to other women’s stories,” Davis said.
They also hope other women of color, white women and men will attend, especially if they supervise black women or work with some as colleagues. Their message to these individuals is that sometimes black women need to be supported a little differently from other women.
Understand their need for mentoring, which they may not always request, and that critical incidents do happen. “When you notice a black woman, understand that her experiences are subtly different from yours,” Miller said.
Toolbox for professional success
Women of color stick out like a sore thumb on a predominantly white campus, so make it the best thumb ever! Their toolbox grows out of their experiences and those of friends and colleagues, as well as ideas emerging from the sessions:
• Recruit mentors. Mentors matter—formal, informal and peer. Take mentoring wherever you can find it. Your mentors don’t have to look like you; they can be anyone with whom you’re comfortable.
• Build and use a network. Your network can offer you day-to-day support and a sounding board when you’re facing larger decisions, like whether to change jobs or career. “It makes you feel like you matter,” Miller said.
• Find allies. Like mentors, they may be women or men of any race or ethnicity. “You will be surprised about the people who will support you if you reach out,” Miller said.
• Seek out professional development. It’s easy to shortchange yourself; take every chance you can get. If tight budgets keep you from traveling to conferences, look for development opportunities on campus.
• Join or form a sisterhood circle. Miller’s is made up of women of color, including Asians and Latinas. Each meeting has a topic—sometimes one like hair, food or family— that wouldn’t safely arise in a wider professional setting.
• Read, read, read. “One of my frustrations has been not having the language to articulate how I’ve been marginalized,” she said. Following the scholarship related to your experiences will help you give voice to what’s happening.
• Build knowledge, skills and awareness to confront critical incidents. When you get ambushed you can get stuck in the moment, unsure of how to respond. Plan out your strategies to address situations such as profiling, and have the courage and conviction to apply them. Sometimes circumstances force you to be the “angry black woman” on campus but often there’s another way to speak up effectively if you look hard enough.
Expected to be the resident black voice on everything, you can educate white colleagues by choosing whether to engage. Unless the topic pulls your heartstrings, you can say, “I don’t know. Why don’t you look that up?” Talk to your supervisor about it too.
• Create outlets and healthy living. Have a life. Read, watch television or do whatever helps you to balance. Too often, the last thing you take care of is you.
Authenticity
Be your authentic self, Davis added. She wears her hair natural with long dreadlocks and a nose ring. “When I enter, my race enters with me,” she said.
You need not be grateful to have a job. If your school doesn’t value you, maybe it’s time to move on. “When the school gets more from you than you get from it, it’s time to go,” Miller said. Someone else will value you.
If you’ve built a record of leadership and now your main role is getting coffee, use your time in that role to build connections and networks for when you leave because you’ll probably have to leave anyway. Teach someone how to get coffee, for after you’re gone.
One NASPA participant chose to progress in her career by moving outside the US, getting her first senior post in the United Arab Emirates. That gave her the credentials for a job back in North America.
Whether you stay or go, remember that you’re not crazy and you’re not alone. Reach out for support. ·        Bullying on Campus: How to Identify, Prevent, Resolve ItA whopping 70% of targets leave the organization, resulting in costs for turnover plus for workers comp, disability and legal issues.

Lamont Stallworth  Workplace bullying is a hot topic in higher education, judging by the overfl ow crowd that spilled into the aisles and out the doorway of the panel session on designing and implementing anti-bullying and faculty incivilities programs, held at the CUPA-HR conference in Las Vegas in October.
Surprised by the turnout, presenting organizer Lamont Stallworth asked participants why they had attended. Some had been targets of bullying or had friends who were, and some were HR employees working on active bullying cases.
Stallworth, a professor in the Institute of Human Resources and Employment Relations at Loyola University Chicago, is also founder and chair of the Center for Employment Dispute Resolution in Chicago. The panel also featured Christine Newhall,senior VP of the American Arbitration Association in Boston, and Toni Robinson, ombudsperson at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Together, they discussed how to identify, resolve and prevent bullying from becoming a force on campus.
What is bullying?
“Defining workplace bullying is like defining beauty or pornography,” said Stallworth. “You know it when you see it.” He defines it as “behavior that threatens, intimidates, humiliates or isolates people at work, or undermines their reputation or job performance.” It can range from subtle or unconscious slights to obvious and intentional emotional abuse, and it can be an isolated incident or systematic.
Sometimes it’s the nonverbal cues. “Their words may be fine, but the ‘micro-inequities’ add up,” he said. It’s the little things, the “micro-aggressions” that aren’t in your face but take place behind your back.
And sometimes it’s more blatant hostility—such as cyber bullying, berating or belittling someone, insulting or putting someone down, yelling or cursing, spreading malicious rumors, impeding or sabotaging someone’s work, or delivering excessively harsh job performance criticism.
Isolation is another form of bullying, especially in academe, where employees already work in silos. Detrimental actions include not copying someone on emails, excluding them from meetings, giving them the silent treatment, intentionally leaving the room when someone enters, and failing to return their phone calls or emails.
There are mental and physical health repercussions for targets of bullying. Depression is a frequent result: 30% of targets experience post-traumatic stress disorder. And witnesses of bullying also report psychological distress.
Bullying isn’t always at face value. “How many cases of bullying have underlying issues, such as race, gender or sexual orientation?” asked Stallworth. “People seeing a new face have different expectations. And the problems are primarily with white males.”
Bullying on campus
“University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small. University politics make me long for the simplicity of the Middle East,” Henry Kissinger once famously joked.
What makes higher education so a ripe for bullying? It starts with the egos. Higher education hires on expertise, so people think they’re experts on everything, said Stallworth. “The game of academe is proving how smart you are.”
Academe is also a very solitary profession, creating an “every person for themselves” culture. And there’s a climate of tolerance; academe tolerates a lot of things others wouldn’t, he said. In addition, faculty members can use students as tools to get at others, such as on dissertation committees.
Why don’t bystanders and witnesses stand up and do something? Not everyone has tenure, and others don’t want to rock the boat or risk becoming targets themselves. Some want the target’s job.
In addition to the psychological effects of marginalization, the economic ramifi cations of bullying are great. It interferes with workplace performance and productivity, strains departments, contributes to a negative culture and climate and increases turnover.
A whopping 70% of targets leave the organization, resulting in costs for turnover plus for workers comp, disability and legal issues. In 2000 the average cost to defend an EEOC case was $96,000. “The most vital organ in the organization’s body is the pocketbook,” said Stallworth. Economic consequences alone might be enough to move a school to action to design and apply policies to prevent and resolve workplace bullying.
Solutions for schools
Early intervention by administrators is fundamental to eradicate bullying. Training deans and chairs on the laws and implications of bullying is crucial, as is training on how to provide empathy for targets.
Leaders need to demand an anti-bullying culture and workplace.
Be proactive through training and developing an organizational anti-bullying policy, including:
Statement of commitment to eliminating bullying
Institutional definitions of bullying
Duties/accountability of administrators
Flexible reporting procedures and communication channels
Options on whom to contact: HR, an ombudsperson or a special appointee
A procedure for contacts
Campus-wide training and information blitz
Monitoring
• A disciplinary process
• Using internal conflict management systems Working with an external arbitrator is one option.
The American Arbitration Association is a fact-finding organization that offers an independent, neutral thirdparty perspective. “We get the facts so people can start communicating,” said Newhall. It offers different levels of service, from fact-finding to mediating to arbitration. Its mission is to educate workers and employers, and to resolve conflicts.
Installing a university ombudsperson is another tool against bullying. The post offers an independent, confidential, neutral and informal resource for faculty, staff and students to turn to for advice on dealing with problems on campus. Robinson said at MIT they work with anybody and everybody on campus. “We teach people how to say things in a better way, to get better results from people.”
They explore the issues, the stakeholders, the rules and the resources, giving the employee “responsible options” and helping them to weigh the pros and cons. Ombudspeople help them use leverage to get a resolution and advocate for fair process. They’ll even act as “shuttle diplomats” between the target and “the alleged dirty doer,” said Robinson.
The ombudsperson is not a “place of notice,” so everything is off the record. Telling the ombudsperson is not telling the organization. But if someone wants to go that route, the office can provide information on how to do it.
This independent resource is especially helpful because employees don’t always have faith in HR, she said, believing HR acts in the best interest of the organization, not necessarily the employee.
On the national level, the proposed National Employment Dispute Resolution Act (NEDRA) is a policy designed to promote using alternate dispute resolutions early in a bullying situation. It would apply to federal contractors and to organizations receiving federal funds, each of whom would need to have its own organizational-specific policies in place.
Solutions for individuals
If you are a target, start by naming it and legitimizing it.
Then, to bully-proof yourself:
Check your mental and physical health with the professionals.
Research your state and federal legal options.
Compile data on the economic impact of the bullying.
Start a search for a new job.
Finally, consult the campus office most appropriate for your situation and decide how to proceed.
Like in the schoolyard, office bullies go after the weak, the marginalized and the least likely to fight back. But only by standing up to bullies can schools eliminate their negative effect on individual careers and the campus workplace.

Jacqueline Cobbina-Boivin
Ruthe Boyea Women's Center
1615 Stanley Street
New Britain, CT 06050
Telephone: 860-832-1655
Fax Number: 860-832-1677
Email: Cobbina-boivinj@ccsu.edu

Ruthe Boyea Women's Center Mission:
The Ruthe Boyea Women’s Center exists to provide resources, to advocate, to inform, and to support personal development. The Center offers a variety of services for and about women. We sponsor educational and cultural programs designed to promote gender equity, knowledge of women’s rights issues, leadership, and independence. We encourage understanding and cooperation among women of varied socio-economic groups, cultures, ethnic backgrounds, races and sexual orientations.

New York Healthy Workplace Advocates Needs Your Help

2010-05-12T16:44:00.000-04:00

Dear Healthy Workplace Advocate,

Big news! The Healthy Workplace Bill was passed in the New York State Senate today!!! (Now we need the Assembly to do the same!)

If you haven't already done so, please send us a letter detailing your workplace bullying experience or at the very least, us the template letter below to request our state Assemblymembers to pass the bill in their house. We need your letter ASAP and by May 17, 2010 to show to the leadership in the New York State Assembly to try to get the Healthy Workplace Bill passed into law by the end of June 2010!

Time is of the essence and you can email your letter to us at info@nyhwa.org as well.

If you can, please also ask a few others to send a letter too!

The letter writing campaign in just a short ten days made a tremendous impact on the New York State Senate, now it is time to show the Assembly these letters and yours to get the Healthy Workplace Bill passed!

Thanks so much (in advance)!

Please send your typed or hand written letter ASAP to:

Elected Representative of the New York State Legislature

c/o New York Health Workplace Advocates
P.O. Box 43
Amherst, NY 14226

or send via email to: info@nyhwa.org

Thank you!

Please use the template below as a guide to write your letter because we received a request to ask you to include the name of your state senator and your state assemblymember at the beginning of your letter.

May 12, 2010

The New York Legislature

c/o New York Healthy Workplace Advocates

PO Box 43

Amherst, NY 14226

Dear Elected Representative:

My state senator is ____________ _ and my state assemblymember is ____________ , and I am appealing to you in your role as an influential member of the New York State Legislature to advance and enact into law the Healthy Workplace Bill S1823 / A5414 this legislative session. The bill addresses workplace bullying.

I have witnessed bullying in the workplace . .

Please do everything you can to bring this bill to a vote this legislative session.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Workplace Bullying: How do you handle it?

2010-04-13T09:12:00.002-04:00

Today at The TakeAway the topic is, among other things, workplace bullying. Please visit the site and leave a comment about your experience. Here's what they want to know:

School bullying has dominated the headlines in recent weeks, but what about bullying at the workplace? According to the Workplace Bullying Institute, almost half of all American workers have either suffered workplace bullying themselves or been vicariously distressed by witnessing it. Nine states (including Illinois, New York, and Utah) have recently tried to make workplace bullying a crime, but there are still no federal laws in place to protect workers against bullying. Tomorrow, we're exploring the topic of workplace bullying, and want to know: Have you been bullied at work? If so, how did you handle it?

Do we as adult targets handle our bullying any differently than kids? Is the emotional toll the same, worse, more tolerable because we are older? These are things people need to understand. Bullying is a K-12 problem in most people's eyes, but we know it continues on into the workforce. What are the similarities and differences, in your opinion?

STATE EMPLOYEES AND VIOLENCE AND BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE: Connecticut's Bill Gets Grounded

2010-03-31T13:46:00.001-04:00

On March 26, the Gov't Administrations and Elections Committee met to
consider the HB 5285. The bill passed the Labor Committee unanimously
and was sent to the GAE Committee for further action.
HB 5285 AAC STATE EMPLOYEES AND VIOLENCE AND BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE
was on GAE’s agenda for their final meeting, but it along with 3 other
bills were not acted on. They didn’t run out of time. The chairs just
didn’t call it, which means that it is dead at this time. It is
probably unlikely to be amended to another bill.
The Chairs of GAE need to hear from us. They let this die.
Their office is
Government Administrations and Elections Committee
Room 2200, Legislative Office Building
Hartford, CT 06106
Phone: 860-240-0480
S14 - Slossberg, Gayle S. Co-Chair Slossb...@senatedems.ct.gov
036 - Spallone, James Field Co-Chair James.Spall...@cga.ct.gov
S12 - Meyer, Edward Vice Chair
Me...@senatedems.ct.gov
030 - Aresimowicz, Joe
Joe.Aresimow...@cga.ct.gov
If we can let the legislators
know that we are unhappy, we may see it pass next year.
Thanks again for all your activities and help in trying to end
legalized harassment and abusive conduct in the workplace.
Kathy Hermes

What makes a bully?

2010-03-24T11:40:00.002-04:00

In 2005, my friend Marlene committed suicide after she was bullied at work. Although it was my first introduction to workplace bullying, and certainly to someone committing suicide because of it, it turns out that this was not an isolated incident. Cultures of fear pervade American workplaces and schools. Bullies can be male or female. They do not necessarily bully everyone; in fact, they choose their targets.

Today, NPR's Talk of the Nation discussed bullying and suicide:

In the latest issue of Time Magazine, there is an article about a Navy captain, a woman, who was such a bully that sailors under her command cheered when they thought she had run her ship aground, because they presumed she'd be fired. The New York Times also ran an article this year called "Backlash" about women bullies in the workplace.

We are still learning about why bullying happens, but that it is a lifelong possibility and that it can be done by men or women and to men or women is clear from the WBI studies.

Unions and Workplace Bullying

2010-03-20T09:31:00.001-04:00

Unions: people hate them, unless they love them. I belong to the CSU-AAUP (Connecticut State University-American Association of University Professors), a bargaining unit for college professors. There is no benefit I have that I think other workers should be without. To me, the AAUP contract is the kind of document every worker in America should have, tailored to one's particular circumstances. But it does not have a provision on workplace bullying, and frankly, people don't go to the union when they are bullied, because the process is not that helpful. Unions in general need education when it comes to this problem.

I was delighted when President of CSU-AAUP, Dave Walsh, gave me the opportunity to speak to the union council about workplace bullying. Two years ago, when Connecticut's SB 60, a Healthy Workplace Bill, went down without a vote, CSU-AAUP passed a resolution saying they would support any such bill in the future. But this time I spoke more broadly, urging the union to support CT Raised Bill 5285, suggesting the union consider contract language similar to the Massachusetts SEIU/NAGE agreement of 2009, and finally asking them to actively work for a Healthy Workplace Bill. President Walsh sent a letter of support for HB 5285 and the union will discuss these other matters.

I am happy to see my union taking it seriously. All government workers, whether federal or state, are easy targets for bullies. People have a lot invested in jobs like this. I have noticed health care is another professional heavily affected, and one state is proposing a bill related only to health workers.

The unions who support a Healthy Workplace Bill and workplace bullying legislation include the CT AFL-CIO, the New York State University Teachers, the Professional Staff Congress, and the Civil Service Employees Union (CSEA). CSEA is already educating its union stewards to recognize bullying and is negotiating contracts to include a workplace bullying protections. The Business and Professional Women of New York State also issued a resolution.

Here is the contract language SEIU/NAGE of Massachusetts passed last year, in part:

The Commonwealth and the Union agree that mutual respect between and among managers, employees, co-workers and supervisors is integral to the efficient conduct of the Commonwealth’s business. Behaviors that contribute to a hostile, humiliating or intimidating work environment, including abusive language or behavior, are unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

Such statements of mutual respect should not be controversial. Americans who still have jobs are spending more time at those jobs, usually under increasing pressure and stress these days. Recently, the Workplace Bullying Institute awarded one business a Bullyfree Workplace status for their hard work in creating a culture of respect. We need to see more bullyfree workplaces!

Connecticut's HB 5285 moves forward: why that's good for all of us.

2010-03-13T08:45:00.002-05:00

HB 5285: AN ACT CONCERNING STATE EMPLOYEES AND VIOLENCE AND BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE was voted out of the Labor Committee on the 9th and yesterday it was sent to Government Administration and Elections Committee. It passed the Labor Committee on an unanimous vote. That is a very positive sign. This a bill that mandates that the state receive information about complaints of workplace bullying and abusive conduct when it happens to state workers.

The Act defines workplace bullying as: "Abusive conduct" means conduct or a single act of a state employee in the workplace that is performed with malice and is unrelated to the state's legitimate interest that a reasonable person would find hostile or offensive considering the severity, nature and frequency of the conduct or the severity and egregiousness of the single act. Abusive conduct includes, but is not limited to, (A) repeated infliction of verbal abuse such as the use of derogatory remarks, insults and epithets; (B) verbal or physical conduct that a reasonable person would find threatening, intimidating or humiliating; or (C) sabotaging or undermining a person's work performance;

The Act therefore largely uses the language recommended by the Workplace Bullying Institute in the Healthy Workplace Bill.

While many in the movement are eager for a Healthy Workplace Bill to pass, what Connecticut is proposing--to study the problem--is a first step in establishing what many of us know firsthand: that bullying is a rampant workplace problem. A WBI-Zogby Poll found that 37% of workers reported being bullied at work. Add to that the number of people who have been witnesses to bullying, for whom the work environment also becomes stressful, and about half of all workers are affected by the problem.

People just want to do their jobs. I was reading a book Employment Law in a Nutshell, 3d (West Nutshell) (Paperback) by Robert N. Covington, Ch. 5, pp. 326 and 327. I was very surprised to come across a discussion of bullying, and even the question of what happens when an employee commits suicide over bullying. The subject came up in a discussion of stress, but in one case, Swiss Company, Inc. v. Dept. of Industry, Labor, and Human Relations, 72 Wisc. 2d 46, 240 N.W. 2d 128 (Wisc. 1976) there was recovery when a bullying supervisor berated and harshly criticized the claimant, who had been working long hours and was under a great deal of stress. People in the 1970s were fighting for things like comparable worth legislation, equal pay for equal work, and so to find this first raised in the 1970s shouldn't be so surprising. But in this employment compensation claim, we see the nascent beginnings of what is now a movement.

The movement is about fairness. Contrary to some claims by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, the workplace bullying movement is not anti-business. We value our jobs or we would not be fighting so hard to make the workplaces where we work healthy ones. HB 5285 does not affect private business. It measures instances of abuse of state employees. This bill will ultimately help make our work places, private and public, safer, healthier and more productive just by recognizing the problem.

CCSU Professors Speak Out for Solidarity in Confronting State Budget Crisis

2010-03-07T09:34:00.000-05:00

CCSUProfs4Progress

Statement on the Connecticut Budget Crisis, March 1, 2010

On February 22, 2010, CSU-AAUP President David Walsh sent a letter alerting CSU-AAUP union members of the gravity of the State of Connecticut’s budget deficit and the likelihood that some CSU departments, programs, and employees will be terminated with the next biennial budget. According to President Walsh’s letter, Connecticut has already borrowed $1.2 billion to bridge its budget shortfall and estimates predict the deficit will grow another billion dollars by June 2010 and an additional three to four billion dollars during fiscal year 2011-2012.

These budget deficits are not the fault of university employees, nor the fault of students. Instead, they represent a failure of our nation’s economic and political system fed by an economy of low wages and high debt, foreign wars, a lack of stable, well-paid jobs, and long-term problems in the nation’s health care and retirement systems. In this is moment of crisis, we cannot be bystanders as administrators and politicians undermine our university’s mission. Higher education is essential to a vibrant economy and we must ensure that Connecticut residents have access to affordable, quality education. The state’s economy will not be fixed by adding university employees to the ranks of the unemployed, but eroding our education system puts everyone’s future at risk.

As faculty we have fought for shared governance, recognizing our unique insight into what it takes to create a quality education. In keeping with this fundamental principle, we insist that:

· There can be no cuts in education or student services. The excellence of our university must be maintained.
· All university budgetary matters must be made transparent; faculty, staff, and students must participate in all decisions concerning cost saving measures.
· There can be no faculty or staff layoffs. Administrators must not be given preferential treatment in terms of pay raises or retention bonuses. The retention of our fine faculty and staff must be the first priority.
· Affirmative action must be defended. Reduced budgets cannot be used to undermine the creation of a diversity faculty, staff, and student body.
· The budget deficit must not be passed on to our students. We stand against increases in tuition and fees, and any measures that compromise the quality and affordability of our students’ education.

We also recognize the power of democratically-organized unions to enact positive social change. This will be accomplished through broad discussion and decision-making among the membership. Even though budget cuts have already increased our workload, we must make room in our professional lives for union participation and we call on our union representatives to facilitate open discussion through regular and meaningful meetings in which members make decisions together. Finally, we recognize the importance of standing in solidarity with CSU staff, students, and other unions, including, but not limited to those within the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition. We call upon staff, students, and other unions to enter the discussion that we begin with his statement and make suggestions as to how best to meet this crisis. Together, we can move beyond legislative politics and build a powerful movement, just as the faculty and students of the University of California have begun to do.

Signed,

Briann Greenfield, Chair, CCSUProfs4Progress

Steven Adair

Mike Alewitz

Sheri Fafunwa-Ndibe

Kathy Hermes

Jeffry McGowan

Serafín Méndez-Méndez

Rachael Siporin

Robert Wolff

_______________________________________

Note from CT Bullybusters: HB 5285 AN ACT CONCERNING STATE EMPLOYEES AND VIOLENCE AND BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE:http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/CommDocTmyBillAllComm.asp?bill=HB-05285&doc_year=2010

June Baker Higgins Gender Studies 20th Anniversary Conference, May 7-9, 2010

2010-03-06T11:40:00.001-05:00

Gail Collins, a columnist from the New York Times, will be our Keynote Speaker on May 7 and Rachel Lloyd, a sexually exploited teenager who later founded Girls Education and Mentoring Service (GEMS), will present at noon on May 8.

The Central Connecticut State University Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program 20th Anniversary Conference & Celebration welcomes proposals for papers or panels from faculty, independent scholars, graduate students, and senior undergraduate students (supervised by professors) for the June Baker Higgins Gender Studies Conference May 7-9, 2010. This year’s theme is on facets of “Being 20,” in keeping with CCSU’s celebration of twenty years of having a Women’s Studies (now Women, Gender and Sexualities Studies) program!

We encourage innovative and creative ways of approaching the theme. Examples of topics may include: struggles, economics, injustices, globalization, changes, aging, rights, conflicts, innovations, cultures, concerns, laws, sexualities, creative works, bodies, solutions, movements, strategies, leaders, or age, and some aspect of “Being 20.” Topics that do not fit within the theme of the conference, but which are of general relevance to Women, Gender and/or Sexuality are welcomed, but preference will be given to panels and papers that address this year’s theme. Abstracts for papers or panels, poster sessions, or short films may be submitted immediately to Cynthia Pope at popec@mail.ccsu.edu. An electronic submission form is available at:
http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?p=5529. Submissions should be received no later than April 2, 2010.

No registration fee is required, as it is part of our feminist mission to make the conference accessible and affordable.

Registration forms are available online and anyone may attend at no cost. Banquet reservations do require payment. Anyone interested in advertising in our conference program may contact Carolyn Fallahi at FallahiC@mail.ccsu.edu. All advertising proceeds will help fund the June Baker Higgins Scholarship at Central Connecticut State University.