May 4th, 2009

Christian Bale: Workplace Bully

WARNING: Video contains explicit language.

By Liz Wolgemuth US News and World Report: The Inside Job February 3, 2009

A September 2007 Zogby survey found 37 percent of Americans workers have been bullied at work. The precise definition of a bully is tough to come by, but Washington state’s Department of Labor says it’s behavior that “intimidates, degrades, offends, or humiliates a worker, often in front of others. Bullying behavior creates feelings of defenselessness in the target and undermines an individualÕs right to dignity at work.”

That sounds a lot like an audio recording of a lengthy tirade reportedly delivered by actor Christian Bale while filming Terminator Salvation last summer. The voice that allegedly belongs to Bale berates the film’s director of photography for walking onto the set while filming. The tantrum seems to happen in front of the film’s director, who is at one point drawn into the tirade.

One of the most interesting stats about workplace bullying is where it happens–largely in public. From the Zogby survey, as cited by the Workplace Bullying Institute:

Question: Where did the majority of the mistreatment occur?

Responses:
Out in the open, in front of others, (53.9%)
Behind closed doors, in silence, (31.6%)
Behind doors kept open so others could hear, (10.2%)
Not sure, (4.3%)
The Bullying Institute has a guide for folks who have been bullied here. (Perhaps someone should pass it around Hollywood.)

This entry was posted on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 4:02 pm and is filed under Media, Social Justice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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