Posts Tagged ‘monica stahly’

Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce: Workplace Bullying

Monday, March 11th, 2013

By Monica A. Stahly of Willcox & Savage

“Workplace bullying” is a somewhat novel and undeveloped employment law issue. However, it’s gaining traction, and attorneys and employers alike are taking note of emerging trial strategies, proposed legislation to regulate workplace behavior, and ways they can proactively promote a professional culture of civility.

Workplace bullying is not illegal—usually. Managers and employees can “legally” insult, intimidate, humiliate, threaten, deliberately ignore, and gossip about other coworkers, and they can engage in a whole slew of other offensive behaviors as long as the intended victim is not a member of a protected class. That means any employee who is not targeted based on race, ethnicity, religion, sex, disability, or age is hard pressed to find a legal remedy for workplace mistreatment. However, some relatively recent cases highlight how employees are starting to carve out a legal niche for workplace bullying claims.

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