by Amy S. Ybarra
Bullying. We’ve all read the headlines. A child shoots another child who bullied him. A child takes her own life because she was bullied. As a result, schools are teaching kids and parents about recognizing the signs of bullying, reporting troubling behavior, and stopping it before it escalates. But bullying is for kids, and employers don’t need to worry about it, right? Wrong. 
Law on bullying
There’s no federal law addressing bullying in the workplace. However, 25 states have introduced legislation that would allow workers to sue for harassment without requiring evidence of discrimination based on a protected class. Even if your state isn’t one of the 25 states that have introduced such legislation, you should not ignore workplace bullying just because there’s no specific law against it.
Bullying defined
The Healthy Workplace Campaign describes workplace bullying as “repeated health-harming mistreatment” that can include verbal abuse; threatening, humiliating, or intimidating offensive behavior; and work interference or sabotage that prevents work from getting done. Workplace bullying tactics can include engaging in hostile staring or nonverbal intimidation; giving someone the “silent treatment”; making up rules for specific people; singling out and isolating one person from his coworkers; yelling, screaming, or throwing tantrums in front of others to humiliate someone; and unjustly discounting a person’s thoughts or feelings in front of others.
Harassment vs. bullying
Doesn’t bullying create a “hostile work environment,” which would mean it’s covered by an employer’s harassment policy? An employee can sue her employer for creating a hostile work environment, but that type of harassment is usually tied to a protected class (e.g., race, national origin, or sex). As a result, a harassment policy may not directly protect employees from bullying.
However, if there’s no other avenue for redress, a bullied employee might file charges of discrimination. The resulting lawsuit may really be a nonviable claim of bullying, not discrimination, but the initial costs of defending against it in court are the same.
Employers may also feel the effects of bullying in other ways, including increased employee turnover, decreased trust in management, absenteeism, and even a greater risk of violence in the workplace. If bullying is severe, it may trigger retaliatory behavior or stress-related health complications such as depression, anxiety, and even autoimmune disorders.
Keys to prevention
How do you prevent bullying in your workplace? You can start by adding a bullying policy to your code of conduct. Complaints would then be separate and distinguishable from complaints under your harassment policy.
An antibullying policy should explain its purpose (e.g., to cultivate a professional work environment in which employees are respectful of their coworkers) and state that it applies to all employees. It should also contain a definition of what the company considers bullying and provide examples of such behavior or violations of the conduct standards.
Just like you do in your harassment policy, communicate how to report bullying, and explain the procedures you will follow when a report is made. Provide all employees with training on bullying behavior and the mechanism for reporting it. That might require separate, or even different, training for employees and supervisors/managers. If you receive a report of alleged bullying, investigate it fully as soon as possible. Don’t assume the problem will go away, or ignore it because you believe it’s simply a misunderstanding between coworkers.
While there’s no perfect way to address workplace bullying, trying to prevent it will improve relations between employees and management. That, in turn, cultivates respect among your workforce and helps increase productivity. As a result, your company will be more successful, which is a winning situation for everyone.
Amy S. Ybarra is an employment law attorney in Austin, Texas.