Archive for the ‘Employer Action/Inaction’ Category
Army demotes, discharges Mom for putting baby first
Friday, February 12th, 2010
Update of Nov 2009 story US Army single parent Alexis Hutchinson was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan. She was told that she had 30 more days to find care for her baby. The base commander never actually granted the promised extension. (DoD integrity?) Her care plan was not finalized prior to deployment date, so the Army arrested her for a short while. Because she refused to deploy without knowing how her son would be cared for, they threatened her with a court martial. According to NY Times reporter James Dao, there are more than 10,000 active duty single parents deployed overseas. Resolution came for Hutchinson on Feb. 11 — a demotion in rank to private, a less-than-honorable discharge, and loss of veterans benefits. She avoided a trial and jail, but the Army has no remorse for manufacturing the conflict between her job’s contractual obligations and her responsibility as a mother. Adding insult to the discharge, her employer claimed that she “didn’t intend to deploy to Afghanistan with her unit and deliberately sought ways out of the deployment.” A mean-spirited tactic — denigrate the humiliated, terminated employee.
Imagine that. A sane single parent not wanting to deploy. What an upside down world when seen through a mother’s eyes.
Tags: Alexis Hutchinson, Army, demotion, deployment, discharge, single parent mother
Posted in Employer Action/Inaction, Social Justice | 2 Comments »
Corporations are people who can be very twisted
Friday, February 5th, 2010
You know how the post 9/11 world is supposedly so different from the 9/10/2001 world? Well, America changed after 1/21 based on the US Supreme Court decision granting corporations person status. Here’s some twisted logic: A. Corporations are people. B. Corporations enjoy unchallengeable control over individual, non-unionized workers (now 92.8% of American non-government employees). C. Corporations can act without remorse or accountability — they can be psychopaths.
Tags: psychopath, Robert Hare, The Corporation DVD
Posted in Bullying Tutorials, Employer Action/Inaction | 4 Comments »
Conan and the rest of us
Friday, February 5th, 2010
What lessons can we take from the Conan vs. NBC employment rift. Let me count the ways. (more…)
Tags: Conan, NBC, O'Brien, Tonight show
Posted in Employer Action/Inaction, Social Justice | Post a Comment »
A Confluence of Misery
Friday, January 8th, 2010
· St. Louis workplace shootings – 4 dead, 5 wounded
· Conference Board survey: U.S. worker satisfaction at 45% new 20 yr. low
· Dec. 2009, U.S. employers shed 85,000 more jobs – 17.3% of Americans are unemployed, underemployed or discouraged
· 37% of U.S. workers are bullied and in 2009, 28% said the abuse worsened with the recession
· Number of suicides by those who lost their identities and life purpose when their economic status was reduced to rubble — unknown, but surely rising.
All the happy talk about an economic recovery (for the publicly funded mega-banks) is balderdash in light of the reality for working people. Let’s drop the Dow Jones number obsession and start measuring what counts in real people’s lives. Until there’s an active social movement, the politicians will continue to cater to corporations.
Tags: Conference Board, shootings
Posted in Employer Action/Inaction, Social Justice | 2 Comments »
Army tears child from mother; prison for mom
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
Army cook specialist Alexis Hutchinson, 21, is a single mother of 10-month-old son, Kamani. She is stationed, and now imprisoned, at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, GA. She was scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan for her first tour. She asked for, and was granted, a time extension for her deployment in order to find a caregiver for her son.
Tags: Army, caregiver plan, Family Care Plan, family dissolution, mother, protective services
Posted in Employer Action/Inaction, Social Justice | 8 Comments »
Role of Incompetence of Aggressive Bully Bosses Confirmed
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
At WBI we have always said that the four principal characteristics of bullied targets (from our 2003 online study) posed a threat to bullies — the integrity of independence, possessing more technical skill, being well liked, and acting ethically and honestly. When personally threatened, people tend to get defensive. This seems true in bullying situations at the bully to target, interpersonal, level. Now there is some science to back the common-sense notion.
Tags: aggression, bully boss, incompetence, Nathaniel Fast, Serena Chen, UC Berkeley, USC
Posted in Bullying Tutorials, Employer Action/Inaction, Science | 1 Comment »
Special Issue of APA Journal on Workplace Bullying
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
The academic journal Consulting Psychology Journal published by the American Psychological Association dedicated its September 2009 issue to articles about the practicalities of employers addressing workplace bullying. Authors include Len Sperry, Pat Ferris, Suzy Fox & Lamont Stallworth, and Gary & Ruth Namie. Go here to download the articles.
Tags: APA, Consulting Psychology Journal, CPJ
Posted in Employer Action/Inaction, Science | 3 Comments »
The Real "Norma Rae" Dies
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
On Sept. 11 at age 68 Crystal Lee Sutton died of brain cancer. She had had two surgeries and suffered a two-month lapse in treatment while she haggled over health care coverage. She told the Burlington (NC) Times News, she was fighting a battle facing so many of the working poor. “How in the world can it take so long to find out (whether they would cover the medicine or not) when it could be a matter of life or death?” she said. “It is almost like, in a way, committing murder.” The fight with the insurer was her second major battle of her life.
Tags: Crytal Lee Sutton, Eli Zivkovich, Norma Rae
Posted in Employer Action/Inaction, Social Justice | Post a Comment »
Sioux City Teachers Tackle Workplace Bullying
Thursday, September 17th, 2009
Some faculty and staff members of the Sioux City School District are undergoing intensive bully training. (more…)
Tags: Sioux City Schools
Posted in Bullying in the News, Employer Action/Inaction | Post a Comment »
Sioux City Schools Work to Stop Bullying
Thursday, September 17th, 2009
Sioux City schools are trying to stop bullying.
West High’s anti-bullying program is making history, by expanding prevention to staff and faculty. The training program creates advocates to give both students and teachers a place to report bullying. From the lunch room to the teacher’s lounge, the district hopes to stop the problem before it starts.
Steve Crary, Director of Human Resources for the Sioux City Community Schools told KMEG 14, “As a school district, we’re constantly working with our kids to stop bullying, and the best way to do that is to make sure our adults are modeling the way and leading the way.”
The training sessions also create coaches to continue spreading the message that bullying is not acceptable.
More Information available here
Posted in Bullying in the News, Employer Action/Inaction | Post a Comment »
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WBI is the only United States organization dedicated to the eradication of workplace bullying that combines help for individuals, research, public education, consulting for employers, and legislative advocacy.