"Yes" says Dr. George Guiliani, professor of Special Education at Hofstra University

"No" says Dr. Paul Friday, head of Shadyside Psychological Services, Pittsburgh

You decide.

Order between Nov. 21 and 30, receive a $5 discount ($34.95). See the product description at this site.

Registration details.

Playback Sessions: Friday, November 18, 2011 to
 Thursday, November 24, 2011, 9:00 a.m. – midnight EST

Read the summary of the British study | Read the 2010 WBI U.S. Survey results

November 15, 2011, from 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM, ET
Hosted by BNA, Bureau of National Affairs. CPE & HRCI credits available.

Register online or call 800.372.1033, option 6, then option 1

It reminds us all that bullies erode profits and prevent balanced budgets because of their meddling. Their misconduct leads to avoidable:
- turnover of the wrong people (the skilled and threatening (to the bullies) ones),
- absenteeism for mental health days,
- presenteeism by the resentful,
- increased healthcare utilization,
- skyrocketing workers comp and disability insurance claims, and
- litigation expenses (defense and settlement costs).

Available as a button or magnet.

Illegitimi non carborundum, Latin for Don’t Let the Turkeys Get You Down (well, close enough)

Visit the gallery of proclamations.

California cities: Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Santa Cruz, South Lake Tahoe, Culver City, Pittsburg, Antioch, Torrance, Burbank, Carson, Placerville, Palo Alto, and El Dorado County

Texas cities: El Paso, Corsicana, Longview, Killeen, Galveston, San Marcos, Sante Fe, San Antonio, Arlington, New Braunfels, Bedford, Bridgeport, Midland, Rockwall

Throughout Freedom Week, the Texas Healthy Workplace Advocates are hosting an informational table at the state capitol lobby in sight of all passing lawmakers.

Connecticut cities: New London, East Haven, Newtown, Milford, Torrington, Bethel,
Central Connecticut State University

An October 20 6:30-8:30 pm. presentation: “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.

Ohio city: Steubenville

Virginia cities: Newport News, Portsmouth, Norfolk

West Virginia cities: Weirton, Morgantown

A lunchtime power point presentation “Workplace Bullying” by Staff Council member and West Virginia Healthy Workplace Bill State Coordinator Lana Cooke will be given for WVU Classified Staff from noon to 1 p.m. on the following dates: Oct. 17, 401 Marina Tower Conference Room; Oct., 19, Coliseum Jerry West Lounge; Oct. 20, 1 Waterfront Place Visitor’s Center/Theater 1st floor

Oct. 18: WVCUPA-HR Board at the fall WVCUPA-HR Conference, Stonewall Resort Conference Center

Take a moment to sign the Healthy Workplace Bill WV Online Petition

Washington county: Snohomish

Wisconsin city: LaCrosse

State Rep. Kelda Roys & State Sen. Spencer Coggs introduced the anti-bullying Healthy Workplace Bill in the Wisconsin legislature on Oct. 17.

Massachusetts: the HWB Coordinators are introducing new ways to get involved, including our all-new Street Teams, where you can help spread the word at other organizations’ meetings, 5ks, parades, and more. Get all the details at the MA Healthy Workplace Bill website.

Oregon: Celebrate Freedom from Workplace Bullies Week by attending 2 days of workshops in Portland. Dr. Denise Haugen, WBI Affiliate, will be presenting! Find more information at the CNRG website.

Over the years people have been asking for a better variety of anti-bullying decals, buttons, etc. We’re doing our best to add more options for you. New to the BullyBusters Store: Bumper-Stickers!

Now you can spread the word about workplace bullying everywhere you go! There are seven designs to choose from. Visit the BullyBusters Store for full details.

We launched The Work Doctor® radio on June 23, 2011. Gary Namie is the host.

In this debut show, Gary discusses the recent Supreme Court decision dropping the job discrimination class action lawsuit against WalMart by six women, representing 1.5 million current and former women employees of the giant retailer.

Joining Gary in conversation is guest Lewis Maltby, Director of the National Workrights Institute,

and author of Can They Do That? Retaking Our Fundamental Rights in the Workplace. Purchase the book on Amazon.com.

Lew is a U. Penn Law graduate, attorney, former HR director, and former ACLU project director. He is the definitive expert.

Mr. Maltby sounds a warning about hidden surprises in employment law that can hurt American workers. He discusses social media and how GPS-equipped, company-owned devices extend employers’ control over workers’ lives.

Betty Dukes at SCOTUS

The June 20, 2011 Supreme Court decision in the Wal-Mart v. Dukes case (1) insulted any worker who dares complain about discriminatory mistreatment at work, (2) made it harder for individuals to join together for lawsuit efficiency in a class action to go up against a behemoth multinational employing corporation, (3) ignored and rewrote a 45-year legal precedent, and (4) cemented Justice Scalia and the conservative block’s motivation to serve corporate interests over those of ordinary working Americans.

Betty Dukes, in 2000, claimed that she had been denied promotion to higher-paying jobs. The incident that provoked the lawsuit was when she needed change to make a small purchase during her break. She asked a friend to open a cash register with a one-cent transaction, a common practice, according to Dukes. For that act she was demoted and had a humiliating cut in pay, accused by Wal-Mart management of misconduct. She still works as a greeter at the Pittsburg, California store. She is also an ordained Baptist minister of a local church. Ms. Magazine named her one of its Women of the Year in 2004. As of May 2010, at age 60, she still lived with her mother because her Wal-Mart hourly wage of $15.23 did not allow her to own a home of her own.

Dukes’ attorney was Brad Seligman, of the Impact Fund in Berkeley, California. The lawsuit with Dukes as one of six lead plaintiffs was filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco in 2001. Despite the strain that such a lawsuit has caused its namesake, Dukes said, “In this life you have to stand up or be trampled.”

Corporate Ally

Scalia, writing for the 5-4 majority to strike down the class action suit against giant retailer Wal-Mart, said that because Wal-Mart has an official corporate policy that gender discrimination is prohibited (p. 13 in the decision) and because penalties are presumably imposed for violating the policy, discrimination does not occur at Wal-Mart that can be characterized as pattern and practice.

The majority of justices considered credible Wal-Mart’s claim that they did not discriminate because they said so and had a policy on the books. We agree that a policy, a line drawn in the sand, is the requisite starting point for any workplace culture that intends to treat workers fairly. But to argue that the policy’s presence on the books alone is sufficient is naive. Scalia is not stupid. He and the other corporatists on the Supreme Court simply want to ignore complaining employees as whiners not deserving respect.

This Scalia point is the least legalistic of the several arguments to find in favor or Wal-Mart. It is the HR argument. Recently, a Ventura County (CA) grand jury found evidence of bullying and harassment of employees by management. The HR director, John Nicoll, challenged the evidence by stating that the county has a policy and that he would be shocked if bullying really did happen.

Nicoll, and SCOTUS justices Scalia, Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas and Alito all want us to believe that employers do not lie, never deprive workers of their rights, always follow state and federal laws, and always know best. To challenge the corporate line is wrong. The majority of the current Supreme Court is an “HR dream team.”

Wal-Mart is especially happy with the decision that it failed to win in the federal trial court or the Court of Appeals. Luckily the firm saved their pennies so they could take their case to the one place where they had powerful legal allies willing to protect them and other poor defenseless and largest employers in the U.S.

Gisel Ruiz, Vice President of People (not the magazine, rather the slaves that work for her), Walmart U.S. officially gloated that the SCOTUS decision “pulls the rug out from under the accusations made against Walmart over the last 10 years. Every female associate and every customer can feel even better about the company as a result of today’s decision.” Ruiz feels better, why don’t you?

For their investment, Wal-Mart, on behalf of all corporations, will also benefit from Scalia and the Court conservatives decision to rewrite law. Class action lawsuits are governed by Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Rule, prior to June 20, established a low threshold for groups of employees suffering at the hands of a single employer to file a common lawsuit. Many were discriminated against at Wal-Mart, a single employer. Hence the class action.

Scalia and the cons changed the Rule 23 standard to now require groups of plaintiffs to show that they were harmed by the same boss or the same biased employee test, not simply employed by the same corporation with an overarching pattern and practice of misconduct. Wal-Mart’s defense in the Dukes case was that the corporation gives latitude to individual store managers to make local decisions. That dispersion of responsibility was enough to kill the claim of commonality across all Wal-Mart stores for Scalia.

One far-reaching (too “far reaching” according to dissenting Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan) implication of Scalia’s judicial lawmaking — the revision of what defines commonality — will be to force each individual worker to file an expensive lawsuit against the giant employer. Employers will find it even easier now to squash cases with motions for summary judgment or prolonged procedures that bankrupt individuals. The original Rule 23 sought to minimize taxpayer-paid public court expenses. Now smaller and more frequent cases without access to class action status will cost government more without putting a dent in the coffers of giant corporations.

Scalia managed to deal a blow to government at a time of great fiscal pressure and to shove workers’ demands for dignity aside.

Another implication is that the merits of the case must be shown to a judge by plaintiffs before having the case certified as eligible for class action status. In Wal-Mart v. Dukes, the legal proceedings all centered on the applicability of class action status. The case itself was never tried.

Employers have little to fear from employment lawsuits anyway. The Ashley Alford case is the exception, not a regular outcome. Thanks to Scalia and his cohorts in the majority, employers will have it easier.

###

The two major flaws of existing anti-discrimination laws are: (1) that they fail to cover incidents outside the narrow legal boundaries (victim must be a member of a protected status group while the harasser cannot be, thus 80% of bullied workers cannot rely on existing laws for help), and (2) it is a sick and twisted irony that harassers who torment people across boundaries of age, race, and gender — the equal opportunity abusers — have a legal defense for their misconduct. The final injustice related to the Wal-Mart v. Dukes case is that merits were never debated. The entire 10 year battle was not over whether or not women at Wal-Mart suffered discrimination. It was a technical fight over the legitimacy of filing a class action on behalf of 1.5 million current and former women employees.

###

Read the complete SCOTUS decision in the Wal-Mart v. Dukes case decided June 20, 2011.

You can read about the new book and order HERE.

Moderator: Sara Adler, NAA Los Angeles, CA; Presenter: Dr. Gary Namie The Workplace Bullying Institute; Responders: Van Goodwin Littler Mendelson San Diego, CA, Carlos Perez Reich, Reich, Adell & Cvitan, Los Angeles, CA, Ami Silverman NLRB Region 21 Los Angeles, CA

A leading expert in the field, along with a panel of experienced practitioners, will explore the issue of bullies in the workplace. Learn about the impact upon employees who are the subject of workplace bullying by either supervisors or co-workers, and how these cases might play out in the arbitration and NLRB arenas.

Ike Namie 1919-2011 Requiescat in pace

My father, Ike Namie, died Thursday. His legacy is remarkable for two reasons: he gave selflessly to his family (caretaking a critically ill wife for her last 10 years of life and for his eldest brother with whom he shared the final 3 years) and for never having hurt a single person in his entire life. These accomplishments are the epithet for this most kind and gentle man. He brought laughs to all he met. He lightened the burden for others. Dad worked 32 years in his hometown Pennsylvania steel mill, a job he loved and to which he helped bring in a union to work with a benevolent and cooperative CEO.  He would have worked longer had he not moved to California to be a next door grandfather to grandson, Macario. He loved to Skype (via a mysterious technology that he confused with film) with his two great-grandsons, Coleton and Cayden, Macario’s sons. Deepest in his heart was a bond with six close WWII buddies. They always figured that Dad would be the last one standing. He didn’t make it. All are gone now save one. He hated being the last one living and now can let go of that burden. As we said in the dedication in our third book, he was “beloved by all.” We have always been close, closer since the passing of his cherished Lil in 1995. We miss him. We feel sorry for ourselves for not having him around (guess it’s the essence of grief), but I am delighted that he had done more than his share of living and giving in his 91 years. He lived a good life helping others. He gave my life purpose. Never has the Navajo prayer “Now I Walk in Beauty” been more meaningful to me.

Friday May 20
Bullying and Harassment at Work: Recent Developments in Theory Research and Practice

Stale Einarsen

STÅLE EINARSEN is professor in Work and Organizational Psychology at the University of Bergen, Norway, and head of the Bergen Bullying Research Group. Professor Einarsen has published extensively on issues related to workplace bullying, leadership, and creativity and innovation in organizations. He is a founding member of the International Association on Workplace Bullying and Harassment, has acted as advisor to the Norwegian Government regarding workplace bullying, and has co-edited two international volumes on bullying and harassment in the workplace. His work has appeared in journals such as Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology, Leadership Quarterly, Work and Stress, British Journal of Management, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.

Negative Consequences of Workplace Bullying – paper session
-Luciano Romeo
-Annie Hogh
-Heather K. Spence Laschinger

Saturday May 21

Symposium:  U.S. Employment Practices in Mainstream Workplace Bullying: Insights from HR, Union, Legal, and Consulting Practitioners

-David Yamada
-Gary Namie
-Greg Sorozan
-Matt Spencer

Sunday May 22

Symposium: Understanding the Abusive Workplace: A Multifaceted Discussion of Science, Practice, and Law

-Paul Spector
-Nathan Bowling
-Suzy Fox
-Kerri Stone/David Yamada

Plus multiple sessions on stress research, workplace incivility, biological effects of job stress, stressful work conditions, coping with workplace mistreatment, and unhealthy work

Come meet Dr. Gary Namie and learn about workplace bullying, the phenomenon and its impact, in Tallahassee, FL. The free public event is hosted by the City of Tallahassee.

Wednesday May 18, 6 – 8 pm, at the Florida Sheriff’s Association, 2617 Mahan Drive.

More Information from Big Bend SHRM.

• Esque Walker, TX State Coordinator appeared on KSAT-TV, San Antonio. Watch the You Tube clip.

These are the volunteers changing the social and political landscape in America. You could join them. Ask how.

15 Ways to Zap a Bully

Long Island resident Jackie Humans, along with her daughter-illustrator, Nikki, produced the book “15 Ways to Zap a Bully.”  Their story was covered on Feb. 3 in the Times of Northport. Nikki, who has Asperger syndrome, inspired her mother to write the book on behalf of all bullied children. Read the article.  Buy the book.  Jackie is an alum of WBI University and now affiliated with us. Visit her website.

Click here to try a search. Let us know in a comment if you find this service useful.

The new regulation (announced in Bulletin 275 in October, 2010) prohibits two kinds of harassment: (1) “objectionable conduct” that poses a health risk and is based on grounds like all discrimination law (in Manitoba the categories include race, creed, religion, colour, sex, sexual orientation, gender-determined characteristics, marital status, family status, source of income, political belief, political association, political activity, disability, physical size or weight, age, nationality, ancestry or place of origin), and (2) “severe conduct” that adversely affects a worker’s psychological or physical well-being.

Bullying is the second type of prohibited conduct if it could reasonably cause a worker to be humiliated or intimidated and is repeated, or in the case of a single occurrence, has a lasting, harmful effect on a worker.

Employers have to write the policy in collaboration with its health and safety committee (that necessarily includes union representatives) or workers if no committee exists.

Furthermore, a complainant reserves the right to file another complaint with the Human Rights Commission.

Read about the new regulations and download information from the official government site.

March 17 Murfreesboro, Tennessee
State Farm Auditorium on the campus of
Middle Tennessee State University
Free to the public, time TBA

March 28 Sacramento, California
Ballroom, University Union on the campus of
Cal State University, Sacramento
Free to the public, time TBA

April 29 Los Angeles, California
Wilshire Grand Hotel
Western Psychological Association
Invited Address 8 pm

Shamrock claims that this smackdown by a former colleague, Dana White, alerted him to the fact that bullying happens to adults, too. See for yourself and decide.

Frank Shamrock, MMA Legend, WBI ally, Anti-bullying spokesman

Frank Shamrock, MMA middleweight ex-champion,

an ally of the Workplace Bullying Institute will guest.

In addition to promoting a featured MMA match,

he will declare that

“Tough Guys Hate Bullying, Too!”

We are fortunate to have the MMA legendary fighter,Shamrock,

join the campaign to educate the public about bullying –

both for children and for adults in the workplace.

WBI is proud to know and to have worked with the advocacy group mentioned in the article:  BullyFreeBC

Robyn Durling

A provincial organization with a small staff and meagre budget, BullyFreeBC was started in the office of former Liberal MLA Lorne Mayencourt with that goal in mind.

The group, which came to be in April 2007, is now supported by many individuals and organizations, including the BC Human Rights Coalition.

Over the last three years the organization has been building strategic relationships with leaders and influencers in all working sectors and political parties throughout the province. When asked why the organization has not launched an all-out
public awareness campaign to elicit additional support, Robyn Durling, Communications Officer for the B.C. Human Rights Coalition and Chair of the BullyFreeBC Communications Working Group.

Workplace bullying is starting to be recognized by Canadian legislators

“So far media across the country have been extremely fair and respectful in highlighting this issue, but we chose to hold back because the pragmatic way for our organization to move forward was first to build a broad coalition of supporters,” adding, “With that in place, this fall BullyFreeBC plans to launch a public awareness campaign that we hope will achieve sustained traction in support of legislative reform that prohibits workplace bullying in British Columbia.”

The organizations’ efforts have so far yielded a $15,000 grant from the Law Foundation of BC, the creation of a draft legislative framework, and a province-wide petition for Workplace Bullying Law Reform to address the problem directly.

Prior to 2004, Canada had no legislation to protect employees from workplace harassment. In 2004 Quebec was the first province to ban psychological harassment in the workplace, not only in Canada, but also in all of North America. Saskatchewan followed with its own legislation in 2007 and, in June of this year, Ontario under the Occupational Health and Safety Act implemented its own legislation.

BullyFreeBC plans to launch a public awareness campaign in support of legislative reform that prohibits workplace bullying in BC.

Just as Ontario passed its legislation, the School of Business at Queen’s University released research on workplace bullying, which was published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. “Even with the best preventative measures in place, harassment may still occur,” caution authors, Jana L. Raver of Queen’s School of Business, and Lisa H. Nishii of Cornell University. “If it does, leaders should clearly communicate to employees that they are taking the situation seriously and that all forms of mistreatment are unacceptable.”

Read the original article

Celebrate with us!

To help celebrate Freedom Week 2010 in Northern California, spend

An Evening with Ruth and Gary Namie

Tuesday October 19, South San Francisco – Grosvenor Best Western Hotel
Wednesday October 20, Sacramento — Radisson Sacramento

Each night the doors open at 6 pm.

The Drs. Namie will lead a seminar from 7 to 9 pm covering.
• Updates on the newest science related to bullying
• Status of the workplace bullying movement begun in Benicia in ’97
• Employer responses to bullying
• Status of the law in various states

Afterwards, members of California Healthy Workplace Advocates (CHWA) will be present to describe the 2011 campaign to enact the anti-bullying Healthy Workplace Bill.

S. San Francisco hotel location: 380 S. Airport Blvd., SSF
Sacramento hotel location: 500 Leisure Lane, Sacramento

Registration is $25 per person.
Inscribed copies of the Namies’ book, revised ’09 edition, The Bully At Work, must be preordered at time of registration.
$40 covers event + book

REGISTER ONLINE (using secure PayPal) or call with your credit card — 360-656-6630

Download and share the event flyer.

Make your own Freedom Week celebration/demonstration/project/rally.

Freedom from Workplace Bullies Week is a chance to break through the shame and silence surrounding bullying. It is a week to be daring and bold. So, what are you going to do? The WBI wants to know!

Please share your ideas for how to celebrate Freedom from Workplace Bullies in a comment below. We’d love to hear them!

See the information and tools we have available to help you get started.

Workplace bullying was defined as “repeated mistreatment: sabotage by others that prevented work from getting done, verbal abuse, threatening conduct, intimidation or humiliation.”

In a separate survey, a representative sample of 4,210 respondents was asked about employer engagement in anti-bullying activities. The vast majority (79%) either were not sure or were certain that employers do little to nothing to address it. Remarkably, 21% believed that U.S. employers are currently addressing it through policies and enforcement.

Though the question specifically asked about an anti-bullying policy separate from harassment and violence policies, which most employers do have, one-fifth of respondents still believed that employers had additional procedures to stop bullying.

“This surprising result is probably wishful thinking by bullied individuals and their friends who want to believe that their employer cares about them,” says Dr. Gary Namie, WBI Director. “Similar studies in Scandinavian countries where anti-bullying laws began in the mid-1990′s find a much lower employer compliance rate.”

The positive attitude toward employers was further illustrated by 56% of respondents reporting confidence that American employers would voluntarily stop bullying without being mandated by law to do so. Only 32% disagreed, believing only a legal obligation would compel action.

Respondents were also asked whether they support or oppose workplace bullying laws like the ones that have been introduced in 17 states since 2003 by the Healthy Workplace Bill Campaign. In 2010, both the New York and Illinois Senates passed the bill. However it has not yet become law in any state.

Of the WBI-Zogby respondents, 64% supported having laws to protect workers from “malicious, health-harming abusive conduct” committed by bosses and co-workers (the specific language contained in the introduced bills). 23.8% opposed laws. Gary Namie concludes, “Clearly a majority of Americans want a law. This statistic will be given to lawmakers as proof of the popular appeal of such legislation.”

###

Contact:
Gary Namie, PhD
360-656-6630
info@workplacebullying.org

Celebrate with us!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!!

The Saskatoon chapter of Business & Professional Women hosts the

Powerless to Powerful Conference

Empowering ourselves against workplace bullying

Saturday-Sunday October 23-24

Travelodge, 106 Circle Drive, Saskatoon

Saskatchewan

Hon. D. Morgan, Q.C.

Invited Guests:

• Don Morgan, MLA, Minister of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety

• Peter J. Barnacle, Woloshyn & Co. Barristers, Labour & Employment specialist

• Dr. Ruth Namie & Dr. Gary Namie, Workplace Bullying Institute, presentations on Sat. Oct. 23

Ruth: (1) Impact of Bullying on Individuals, Family & Community; (2) Targets & Self-Defeating Strategies

Gary: (1) Identifying Bullying; (2) Converting Witnesses to Interveners; (3) Causes of Bullying in Societal & Organizational Traditions

• Shelle Rose Chavert & others

Online registration available here.

[See post to watch Flash video]

The film will be screened at the Montreal World Film Festival Aug. 26 to Sept. 6, 2010

[See post to watch Flash video]

Interviews with Director Emil Chiaberi and Charlie Withers at the Royal Oak premiere.
If you were at Royal Oak, write your own review here, please.

Read the local Daily Tribune press coverage.

Elizabeth Blackburn won the 2009 Nobel prize for Medicine and Physiology. I previously wrote about her work. Briefly, she discovered 20 years ago the telomere, chromosome-protecting caps at the end of strands of DNA. Telomere damage or shortening translates to advanced cellular aging.

Telomere = Greek for "end" (telos) and "part" (meros)

Research by Elissa Epel and Blackburn and others measured telomere length and telomerase enzyme levels to show that mothers who raise special needs children may have their lives shortened by between 9 and 12 years from the stress that they reported.

Now comes news that Epel and Blackburn at the University of California, San Francisco, are soliciting women ages 50 to 65 to volunteer for a study beginning August, 2010. The purposes are to develop a test for telomere length, to assess the correlation with lifestyle behaviors, and the reaction to learning how likely you are to live a long (or stress-shortened) life.

Here is an application of basic science to the real world. Is the telomere a predictor of longevity or overall health? Older genetic tests can predict one’s risk for cancer or Alzheimer’s. This may be the next big breakthrough.

To volunteer, women must be in good health and between ages 50-65. Call 415-476-7634 or e-mail  knowyourtelomeres@ucsf.edu

Also read the July 5, 2010 article by Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle

This event marks the international movement’s 14 years of existence. The group providing direction for the movement is the International Association of Workplace Bullying and Harassment (IAWBH). For the worldwide phenomenon that workplace bullying is, the number of individuals intimately involved in studying, preventing and correcting it is a relatively small. But the movement grows. An even larger and more diverse group is expected in 2012 in Copenhagen when the 8th conference convenes.

Here are my brief observations about conference themes and outcomes.

The Science Mounts

141 papers summarizing countless studies and solutions from social and management science academics added to the growing body of literature in the field. There are three primary customer groups that need the information.

First, bullied individuals will benefit. The users of this website’s Research Library know that the newest information can often be personally useful to alleviate the pain. Family members and doubters also can read the studies for themselves to gain validation about the seriousness of bullying’s impact on the target and those who love him or her. We will be adding to the online Library in coming months thanks to the conference.

Second, for the few who mount a lawsuit, scientific findings can be used by your attorney and expert witnesses to bolster your case, countering the employer defense that you lie about your experiences.

Third, lawmakers at the state and federal level need convincing that bullying is a serious public health threat. Out of this conference comes even more evidence that worker health and safety are compromised by bullying. And co-worker witnesses don’t do so well either. Science should trump political nitpicking or scaremongering. But I realize we are in America.

Brit Unions Still Lead

UNISON, the largest UK public employees’ union, conducted a study of bullying within its membership a decade ago and repeated the survey recently. A paper by the union and Prof. Charlotte Rayner found that bullying rates had doubled in that decade. UNISON plans to use the findings to work within the ranks and with partnering employers to curb bullying. I like the union commitment, even though 20% of the bullying is member-on-member. A keynote address by  Rachael Maskell from UNITE, a UK union affiliated with USW in the U.S., was inspiring. Again, there was an unequivocal commitment to eliminating bullying by organizing workers around the topic (an activity AFGE officer emeritus Carol Fehner suggests in our Union section), compelling employers to ensure their duty of care to protect worker health and safety, and being involved in all aspects of bullying in the workplace.  In 2012, I hope there are U.S. union success stories to present.

Euro Legislation Sets the Standard

Of particular relevance to the WBI Healthy Workplace Bill (HWB) Legislative Campaign were several sessions reviewing laws in Quebec, France, Brazil, and Italy. Prof. David Yamada, author of the U.S. HWB, put our bill into the context of worldwide progress. Remarkably, most applicable laws in other nations are fraught with ambiguity and imprecision. What has changes is the courts’ (judges’) interpretations of them. In France, lower courts have slowly raised the standard for plaintiffs as originally written in the laws. So, the highest court has admonished lower courts and restored employee rights. For this reason and many others, the U.S. still lags far behind by not having any comparable laws. The reports led me to redouble our efforts to enact the HWB here in the U.S.

Americans on Board

David Yamada delivered an informative keynote (download it here) on international laws regarding workplace bullying. I’m proud to have literally joined the Board at the Cardiff conference. My keynote address was completely non-scientific. It was about “Re-Framing the Message” for the necessary America revolution ahead. You can download it here. Make no mistake, we Americans are late-comers to the IAWBH party that began humbly in 1998 in Staffordshire, England.

New Grad Students

The leaders of this movement, like yours truly, are getting long in the tooth. A transfusion is coming thanks to a new generation of graduate students – both young and older people – pursuing doctoral degrees in the field. And no single lab produces more doctorates than the Bergen (Norway) Bullying Research Group, led by Prof. Stale Einarsen. Of the 33 students who attended the pre-conference program for doctoral students,  four were Americans!  They are “in the pipeline” and will make their mark as young academics in U.S. universities, reversing years of biases faced by the pioneering students of years past.  WBI will assist these aspiring American scholars in any way it can. Contact us. Remember, for me to be a “recovering academic,” I had to have been one in the past. I know what you are going through. I can support you.

HR Must Change

The IAWBH conference is not an HR conference. But HR is increasingly asked to join us at the table. Frankly, the empirical findings do not currently paint a positive portrait of HR’s ability to stop bullying. The HR problem may be less a matter of willingness than a lack of internal political clout to effect requisite changes. CEOs would have to trust HR more to allow them to stop bullying. Nevertheless, in the face of lots of criticism of the HR function, a few brave individuals did present research from an HR perspective. Those people, like Gabriele Murry (from Germany) deserve our support because they are truly appalled that bullying is done with impunity. We welcome HR professionals who “get it” and do not blame targets for their fate.

Dr. Gary Namie, WBI, June 7

Check out Dr. Gary Namie in a variety of media appearances on the Workplace Bullying Institute’s YouTube Channel

Our YouTube videos provide education on the phenomenon of Workplace Bullying, guidance for targets of bullying, and suggestions for employers to create safe, healthy working environments.

Monica Walker is the state coordinator for the Healthy Workplace Bill, which would require employers in Wisconsin to create and enforce anti-bullying policies. Walker said fighting abuse in the workplace became her mission after she herself suffered bullying at work.

Meet the WI Healthy Workplace Advocates State Coordinator, Monica Walker. “bully fighter” from Mazomanie, WI. In 2010, she championed AB 894 sponsored by Rep. Kelda Roys. You, too can become a Coordinator. Visit the Healthy Workplace Bill Legislative Campaign website, see if your state has a Coordinator. If so, sign up to help her or him. If not, read what it takes and speak with Dr. Namie. Join the elite network of volunteer Coordinators changing the legal landscape of America on behalf of workers exposed unnecessarily to health-harming, abusive mistreatment (workplace bullying).

Read the original article in the Wisconsin State Journal, April 17 by Dee J. Hall

As a follower of the workplace bullying phenomenon, you are invited to join the new IAWBH organization. Tell your friends. Begun at the biannual conference held in Montreal in 2008 (described at this site), this group which was primarily limited to academic researchers in the early years is now reaching out to a broader constituency — clinicians, practitioners, non-academics.

The next conference is June 2-4, 2010 in Cardiff, Wales. WBI will be represented with Dr. Gary Namie and Prof. David Yamada delivering keynote addresses and presenting papers.

“Delivers a potent mix of shocking truth, honest analysis and dark humor”
COMING TO THEATERS IN 2010

Feature documentary Murder by Proxy: How America Went Postal offers a provocative examination of the possible role of hostile work environments in mass murder incidents, starting with the earliest USPS mass murder-suicide in 1986.

At a time when tensions are rising again in the Postal Service and in other workplaces across America, Murder By Proxy is a simply a must-see film.

Spread the word, forward the link to this announcement to your friends