Page 122 - An Indispensible Resource for Being a Credible Activist

an EEO claim cannot be proven because it isn’t spoken or people aren’t conscious of it does
not mean it isn’t present. This is just another reason to make all harassment in the United
States unlawful. Harassment is harassment regardless of what drives it.
The HR Tool entitled “Sample Memo Defining Bullying,” on pages 110–111, shows an
example of how an HR professional might address a bullying situation to a supervisor.
The Washington State Department of Labor and Industry has an excellent sample pol-
icy titled “Workplace Bullying: What Everyone Needs to Know,” as cited and quoted from
7
throughout this chapter. Additionally, the Workplace Bullying Institute has a plan called
“The Namie Blueprint” for workplace bullying prevention as well as research, statistics,
model policies, and information about workplace bullying in most other first-world nations. 8
There are other model policy options as well:
http://www.bullyfreeworkplace.org/
http://www.bullyonline.org/workbully/bully.htm
http://www.overcomebullying.org/workplace-bullying-stories.html

❱❱ WHAT IS CORPORATE/INSTITUTIONAL BULLYING?

Corporate/institutional bullying occurs when bullying is entrenched in an organization and
becomes accepted as part of the workplace culture. Corporate/institutional bullying can
manifest itself in different ways:

● Placing unreasonable expectations on employees, where failure to meet those
expectations means making life unpleasant (or dismissing) anyone who objects
● Dismissing employees suffering from stress as “weak” while completely ignoring or
denying potential work-related causes of the stress; and/or
● Encouraging employees to fabricate complaints about colleagues with promises of
promotion or threats of discipline 9
See the HR Tool entitled “Signs of Corporate and Institutional Bullying,” on page 111,
for an aid to help you identify bullying in a corporate setting.
As a credible activist, you will want to take the initiative in creating and maintaining a
bully-free workplace. Gather documentary and other educational and training materials to
help staff understand the harm done by bullying. Beverly Peterson is a filmmaker who pro-
duced the documentary, There Oughta Be a Law:NoJobIsWorthThis.com, which aims to edu-
cate employees, managers, leaders, HR professionals, legislators, and others about the harm
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done by bullying. Having behavioral policies in place such as anti-bullying policies can also
contribute to keeping unions away from industries that do not usually have union presences.

UNIONS AND NLRA COMPLIANCE

Companies must know where the line is with regard to when they are engaging in activities
to prevent union membership. While most companies do want to prevent their employees
from joining unions, there are companies that welcome unions and respect the employees’
rights to organize.

CHAPTER 8 • Concerns about W orkplace Violence, Bullying 105