1.  In Memory of Senator Thomas Morahan

2.  Article in Time Magazine

3.  Article in Parade Magazine

4.  New Zogby Poll on Workplace Bullying due in August 2010

 

1. In Memory of Senator Thomas Morahan

 

On Monday July, 12, 2010, Senator Thomas Morahan passed away.  Senator Morahan was the primary sponsor of Bill S1823 that passed in the New York State Senate last  May.  What most people do not know, is that he made a special trip to Albany to see that bill S1823 passed in the New York State Senate in May while suffering from leukemia.  The Senator and his staff where very committed to the passage of the bill and the New York Healthy Workplace Advocates are very appreciative of all their hard work.

 

Those wishing to remember the Senator and his family in a special way may send contributions to either: The Theresa Morahan Simmons Foundation, 15 Renfrew Road, New City, NY 10956 or STDC, The Center for Discovery, P.O. Box 720, Harris, NY 12742.

If you would like to read more about the Senator's accomplishments and leave a message via the Guest Book, please visit:  http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Thomas-Morahan&lc=4537&mid=4313797

 

2.  Article in Time Magazine

 

Time Magazine has run a new article on their on-line version of the magazine highlighting the need for legislation and the accomplishments of all your letters, calls and actions that led to the landmark 45-16 vote in the New York State Senate this past May.  The article appears below and can be found at this link:  http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2005358,00.html

 

 

New Laws Target Workplace Bullying

 

There are some very important things they don't tell you on career day. Chief among them is that there is a good chance that at some point during your working adult life you will have an abusive boss — the kind who uses his or her authority to torment subordinates. Bullying bosses scream, often with the goal of humiliating. They write up false evaluations to put good workers' jobs at risk. Some are serial bullies, targeting one worker and, when he or she is gone, moving on to their next victim.

 

Bosses may abuse because they have impossibly high standards, are insecure or have not been properly socialized. But some simply enjoy it. Recent brain-scan research has shown that bullies are wired differently. When they see a victim in pain, it triggers parts of their brain associated with pleasure. (See 10 ways your job will change.)

 

Worker abuse is a widespread problem — in a 2007 Zogby poll, 37% of American adults said they had been bullied at work — and most of it is perfectly legal. Workers who are abused based on their membership in a protected class — race, nationality or religion, among others — can sue under civil rights laws. But the law generally does not protect against plain old viciousness.

 

That may be about to change. 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.

 

Not surprisingly, many employers oppose the bill. They argue that it would lead to frivolous lawsuits and put them at risk for nothing more than running a tight ship and expecting a lot from their workers. But supporters of the law point out that it is crafted to cover only the most offensive and deliberate abuse. The bill requires that wrongful conduct be done with "malice," and in most cases that it has to be repeated. It also provides affirmative defenses for companies that investigate promptly and address the problem in good faith. (See "When Bullying Goes Criminal.")

 

The New York state assembly is expected to take up the bill next year. At least 16 other states are considering similar bills, and some employment-law experts think antibullying legislation may have real momentum now.

 

Legislatures are not the only ones standing up to bullies. In 2008, the Indiana supreme court struck a blow against workplace bullying when it upheld a $325,000 verdict against a cardiovascular surgeon. A medical technician who operated a heart and lung machine during surgery accused the surgeon of charging at him with clenched fists, screaming and swearing. The formal legal claims were intentional infliction of emotional distress and assault, but the plaintiff argued it as a bullying case, and had an expert on workplace bullying testify at trial. (Comment on this story.)

 

Ideally, employers should rein in abusive bosses on their own, but that rarely happens. Many bullies are close to powerful people in the organization and carefully target less powerful ones. When John Bolton was nominated to be ambassador to the U.N. by President George W. Bush, a former subordinate told the Senate that Bolton was a "serial abuser" and — in a phrase that has since entered the bullying lexicon — a "kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy." (See "How Not to Raise a Bully.")

 

There are reasons workplace bullying may be getting worse now, including the bad economy. In good times, abused workers can simply walk out on a job if they are being mistreated. But with unemployment at around 9.5%, and five job seekers for every available job, many employees feel they have no choice but to stay put.

Another factor is the decline of organized labor. Unions were once a worker's front-line defense against an abusive boss. If a supervisor was out of line, the shop steward would talk to him — on behalf of all of the workers. But union membership has fallen from 35% of the workforce in the 1950s to under 13% today, and some unions are less aggressive than they once were. (See what to do if you have a bad boss.)

 

That leaves litigation. There seems to be a strong constituency for laws allowing workers to sue over workplace abuse. The vote on the Healthy Workplace Bill was bipartisan and not close: New York state senators favored it 45 to 16.

 

If states enact laws of this kind and lawsuits begin to be filed, juries are far more likely to sympathize with the bullied worker than the bullying boss — and damages awards could be large. There is one easy way for employers to head all of this off: get more serious about rooting out abusive bosses before serious damage is done.

Cohen, a lawyer, is a former TIME writer and a former member of the New York Times editorial board

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2005358,00.html#ixzz0uWFq5Ln3

 

3.  Article in Parade Magazine

 

In this past Sunday's newspapers around the country, the following article appeared in Parade magazine with a poll to record whether readers thought workplace bullying should be illegal.  Currently, the poll states that 93% of respondents feel that it should.

The article appears below and can be found at this link:  http://www.parade.com/news/intelligence-report/archive/100718-workplace-bullying-do-we-need-a-law.html

 

Thursday, July 22, 2010

 

Workplace Bullying: Do We Need a Law?

 

 

According to a joint study by the polling firm Zogby and the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI), an employee-advocacy group, nearly 50% of the U.S. workforce is either a victim of or a witness to bullying on the job. 

In California, a scientist committed suicide after what she had described as years of mistreatment by an abusive boss. In Indiana, a medical technician sued and was awarded $325,000 in damages after his boss shouted threats at him with clenched fists. 

 

Seventeen states have introduced bills that would enable other victims to sue for damages as well.  New York’s version o f the legislation stalled in committee last month.  Is it time to make workplace bullying a crime?

 

The WBI’s Gary Namie defines workplace bullying as “repeated malicious mistreatment, verbal abuse, or conduct that is threatening, humiliating, or intimidating, or that interferes with work.” It’s already illegal in many states to bully someone based on his or her race, religion, or sexual orientation, but workforce advocates say that stronger “status-blind” laws are needed. 

Many employers oppose such laws. “Making a federal or state case over the day-to-day management of any workforce is just plain nuts,” says Victoria Pynchon, an attorney-mediator in Los Angeles. “At best, it’s a jackhammer solution to an Emily Post problem. At worst, it’s a new scheme for extortion.”  

— Janet Kinosian

 

 

4.  New Zogby Poll on Workplace Bullying due in August 2010 

 

A new Zogby poll on Workplace Bullying will be available by late August.  This joint venture by the Workplace Bullying Institute and Zogby International will be a follow up poll to the one 2007 survey that over 7700 participants responded to.  Zogby International randomly selects participants for its polls and you can sign up to receive them at their web site at:  http://www.zogby.com/