My department manager thinks my perpetrator is very cute. He pays her lots of attention and flatters her. The rest of the management are stupid and so utterly clueless.

This department, before the economic crisis, was a personnel “revolving door”. People were leaving faster than they could hire them. This is a large major hospital and they couldn’t care less, they just sweep it under the rug and totally deny that there exists any sort of problem.

The perpetrators (2) go off on their 2 hour lunch or shopping breaks and leave their assignment uncovered and I have to almost eat lunch guarding my work area, so they don’t have free reign to come in and set up the next “zinger”.

Workplace abuse is the same thing as domestic abuse, and the punishment should fit the crime.
Once one is bullied, one’s life is changed forever, and all the rhetoric does not change the effects of having been bullied.

If bullies understood that their actions would have legal consequences, then, maybe the cycle of abuse would finally be broken, but I doubt it.

Bullies psychological makeup is sociopathic, and they cannot comprehend empathy, their world view is skewed and warped beyond any genuine human compassion and respect, the world revolves around them, that is why when targets/victims seek assistance and support, they unleash the bully’s fury, “its not me, its them”.

As far as this target is concerned, in order to eradicate bullying, we must change the way in which we perceive human relationships.

US workplace culture condones bullying, and until that perception changes, bullying will continue.

Will a Federal AntiBullying Law Bill stop bullying? I don’t know, but its a good place to start.

I am still haunted by my experience. I thought this was a world renowned firm….I would be safe here. What a chump. After leaving I let my licenses laspe and though I loved my work and my clients I don’t believe I will ever return to that industry. Not long ago I decided to give it one more shot and interviewed with a number of large firms. I was treated with interest until the final rounds before accepting positions. One branch manager called me back and threatened me when I asked about a less than complementary website under his name, another suggested I pay them $25,000 to join the firm, and another told me they would happily hire me for the bargain basement rate of providing them with 200 names and numbers of “my prospects” (with that as a good faith act on my part they would hire me). I realized the industry has spiraled even further downward since I left and finally gave up hope.

The securities industry, shockingly even with all the regulation is an horrible offender when it comes to bullying. Most new and experienced securities representatives/financial planners see it as a necessary evil and try to get past it….most never do and plenty of great people leave the profession. The branch I worked at turned over hundreds of people where I worked over 4-5 years. So many that anyone there over a year generally took the attitude that generally it wasn’t worthwhile getting to know a new recruits name…they’d be gone in 6 weeks. It was a shark like environment.

It’s obvious to me why we had a banking crisis. I complained all the way up the ladder….and at every step was met with shock, disbelief and abject lack of understanding of any wrongdoing around their business model. They believed until the end in what they were doing. Scary. Most bullies do.

GF