Page 121 - An Indispensible Resource for Being a Credible Activist

The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries provides this helpful direc-
tive that any world-class workplace behavioral policy will include:

If you are aware of bullying in the workplace and don’t take action, then you are
accepting a share of the responsibility for any future abuses. This means that witnesses
of bullying behavior should be encouraged to report any such incidences. Individuals
are less likely to engage in antisocial behavior when it is understood that the company
does not tolerate such behavior and that the perpetrator is likely to be punished. 6

Keep in mind that certain scenarios at companies can increase the likelihood of bully-
ing. See the HR Tool entitled “Factors That May Increase the Risk for Bullying Behavior,” on
page 110. For the consequences of bullying on employees, see the HR Tool entitled “How
Bullying Affects People,” on page 110.

❱❱ ADDRESSING BULLYING

Bullying is harassment, discrimination, and retaliation that is not based on any protected
category such as race, color, religion, age, sex, gender, disability, or veteran status. It is legal
in the United States, yet it is unlawful in most other first-world nations, which have recog-
nized it as a form of workplace violence that harms people, companies, and profits.
Bullying is recognized by the FBI as a form of workplace violence. Smart companies
will implement policies prohibiting workplace bullying before laws are passed in the United
States. There are at least 13 states with legislative efforts working toward making workplace
bullying unlawful.
The fascinating aspect of opposition to workplace bullying laws is that although the
message is essentially that we find harassment, discrimination, and retaliation reprehensible
as a society—and when it’s because of these certain reasons, that makes it even worse, there
is a willingness to overlook this otherwise reprehensible behavior when it is not based on a
reason of outright discrimination. That is, when someone “just doesn’t like someone” and
decides to mistreat him or her, there is something happening there that is either not being
honestly acknowledged or is not in conscious awareness. In other words, when people say
“Oh, I just don’t like him or her,” they are either not aware of why they don’t like the per-
son or they are aware of why but are smart enough to not say why because it is very likely
due to an unlawful reason such as race, gender, age, disability, color, national origin, etc.
When people really do not like someone for a concrete reason that is not unlawful and that
is also reasonable, they have no difficulty identifying why they don’t like the person.
Does that matter to the person who is being harassed? No. He or she is still a person
who is being harassed, which is reprehensible and which should not be allowed to continue.
Yet it is a reminder that these important HR concepts really are very connected. If someone
experiences the emotion of disgust toward someone but cannot understand or articulate
why, should he or she be allowed to harass that person or treat the person badly? Frequently
disgust is a response to diversity when the diversity is misunderstood or feared. Just because

104 The H R Toolkit