Bullying Bosses Beware

Kellye Whitney

Here is an article written by Kellye Whitney for Talent Management magazine. To check oyt itgercresoyrces and/or sign up for a free subscription to TM and/or Chief Learning Officer magazine (both published by MediaTec), please click here.

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We’ve all had one. The boss you know gives out more tricks than treats on Halloween to the neighborhood kids, because he or she does the same thing on the job.

They may scream, curse, throw things or humiliate people in front of large groups, and all of this loveliness is done often, deliberately and with great pleasure. But, according to a Time article, “Workplace Bullying: New York Bill Targets Abusive Bosses” legislation to rein in this kind of workplace terrorism may be closer than we think.

According to the article, “Workers’ rights advocates have been campaigning for years to get states to enact laws against workplace bullying, and in May they scored their biggest victory. The New York state senate passed a bill that would let workers sue for physical, psychological or economic harm due to abusive treatment on the job. If New York’s Healthy Workplace Bill becomes law, workers who can show that they were subjected to hostile conduct – including verbal abuse, threats or work sabotage – could be awarded lost wages, medical expenses, compensation for emotional distress and punitive damages.”

Of course, many employers are opposing the bill, arguing it could lead to frivolous lawsuits and potentially penalize them “for nothing more than running a tight ship and expecting a lot from their workers” because that’s exactly what bullying is about – not – but the law has been structured to punish only the most offensive and deliberate abuse, wrongful conduct done with malice, essentially, and in most cases the behavior has to be repeated.

The New York state assembly is expected to consider the bill in 2011, and some 16 other states are evaluating similar bills.

We’ll see what happens, but I have a suggestion for a new policy talent managers can implement if the bullying legislation passes: the use of squirt guns in the office.

Boss acting out, misbehaving or otherwise being a nuisance? Pretend he’s your wayward cat and – pow! – hit him with a nice icy cold stream of water right in the puss.

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Kellye Whitney is an award-winning editor and journalist with more than a decade of experience covering, well, a lot of different topics and industries including real estate, music, entertainment and education. She has significant expertise in talent management,  learning and development, and diversity.