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Legal Rationale
The seminal legal treatise on workplace bullying that
introduced the term to the legal lexicon was authored by
David C. Yamada, J.D.
Professor of Law, Suffolk University Law School, Boston, MA
The article "The Phenomenon of 'Workplace Bullying' and
the Need for Status-Blind Hostile Work Environment Protection,"
Georgetown Law Journal (March) 2000, Vol. 88, No. 3, pp. 475-536.
introduced the term to the legal lexicon was authored by
David C. Yamada, J.D.
Professor of Law, Suffolk University Law School, Boston, MA
The article "The Phenomenon of 'Workplace Bullying' and
the Need for Status-Blind Hostile Work Environment Protection,"
Georgetown Law Journal (March) 2000, Vol. 88, No. 3, pp. 475-536.
Why not allow voluntary employer effort stop bullying? Who needs a law?
Employer lobbying groups can no longer claim that bullying does not exist. The WBI-Zogby survey results puts that issue to rest.
Another tactic is to proclaim bullying's usefulness. For example, Jeff Tannenbaum, a lawyer at San Francisco-based employment law firm Littler Mendelson asserted that the United States not only has more laws than it can handle, but that bullying has its benefits. "This country was built by mean, aggressive, sons of bitches," said Tannenbaum. "Would Microsoft have made so many millionaires if Bill Gates hadn't been so aggressive?"
Tannenbaum says that inappropriate bullying is in the eye of the beholder. Some people may need a little appropriate bullying in order to do a good job. Others assert that those who claim to be bullied are really just wimps who can't handle a little constructive criticism." [San Francisco Business Times, July 19, 1999].
Voluntary employer controls do work. In our role as business consultants, we provide progressive employers with the tools to stop bullying.
Historically, until there is a law, U.S. employers wait to be threatened with legitimate litigation. Then and only then do they craft internal correction or prevention mechanisms for misconduct. Sadly, they do the right thing for the wrong reasons.
The WBI-Zogby survey results shed light. When employers are told about the bullying in their organizations, nearly half (44%) do nothing while 18% actually worsen the situation by retaliating against the one who reported it.
Employers know how to comply with the law. Fortunately for them, the Healthy Workplace Bill does not trigger any state government regulation. Policies and enforcement plans will adequately protect employers from liability under the proposed law.
The Healthy Workplace Bill provides the incentive for employers to do what they should be doing routinely, taking care of the bottom line and employee health and safety!