A D U LT B U L LY I N G

RECOGNIZING WORKPLACE MISCONDUCT

 “Most organizations have a serial bully. It never
ceases to amaze me how one person’s divisive
dysfunctional behaviour can permeate the entire
organization like a cancer.”

–TIM FIELD
 W H AT I S A D U LT B U L LY I N G ?

OSHA defines bullying as:

“Bullying is usually seen as acts or verbal comments
that could 'mentally' hurt or isolate a person in the
workplace. Sometimes, bullying can involve negative
physical contact as well. Bullying usually involves
repeated incidents or a pattern of behaviour that is
intended to intimidate, offend, degrade or humiliate
a particular person or group of people. It has also
been described as the assertion of power through
aggression.”
T Y P I C A L B U L LY I N G
B E H AV I O R

– False accusation of “errors” made by

target*
– Nonverbal displays of intimidation
(e.g., staring, glaring)*
– Undermining the target’s opinions in a
public setting*
– Exclusion or social isolation*
– Displaying apparently uncontrolled
mood swings*
– Creating a separate set of rules and
standards for the target*
– Failing to recognize quality work by the
target*
– Spreading malicious rumors about the
target*
*www.workplacebullying.org
• 35% of workers have felt bullied at work

• 16% of bullied employees have stated they suffer from health related problems as a
result

• 17% of these victims revealed they simply quit their jobs to avoid further harassment

• 54% of bullied employees were harassed by someone older than themselves

• 57% of those who have reported a bullying situation to HR say nothing has
happened

• 49% of victims confronted their bully…. In 50% of these cases the bullying stopped
but for 11% the bullying got worse.

• *www.stopbullying.gov
A N T I B U L LY
LAWS
• There are not currently any laws to
intervene on workplace bullying or
adult bullying.
• Unfortunately workplace
harassment cases such as sexual
harassment or discrimination cases
are the only forms of protected
“hostile work environment” cases
under anti discrimination laws.
• This leaves verbal or psychological
harassment wide open for abuse in
workplace environments.
• There needs to be a bigger push to
proceed adults from this type of
abuse. Period.
 CONFLICT RESOLUTION

• SET LIMITS
Exercise your right to respectfully tell the bully to stop their behavior. Clearly communicate
what the unwanted behavior entails, how this type of behavior affects your ability to work,
and how this type of behavior will no longer be tolerated. Be sure you follow through with
your statements as to not allow a bully to continue to harass or isolate you as an employee.
• CONFRONT THE BULLY IN THE ACT
Address the unwanted or aggressive behavior as it occurs. It is important to not attack
another person but to identify the problem behavior when it is in action.
• DOCUMENT THE BULLYING BEHAVIOR
For every occurrence where you are feeling harassed or bullied there needs to be proper
documentation of when, where, who, and what occurred. If the bullying comes in the form
of a digital document (text, email, memo, etc) or voicemail it is important to keep these
records for HR.
• TALK TO MANAGEMENT OR HR
After all is said and done there is always management available to reach out for assistance.
HR will always be your greatest advocate and also a bountiful source of information on
company policies.
 “WORKPLACE BULLYING BREAKS HEARTS,
MORAL, DRIVE, PASSION, AND THE DRIVE TO
DO PRODUCTIVE AND MEANINGFUL WORK.”

–TY HOWARD
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

1. http://www.aarp.org/work/job-
hunting/info-11-2013/handle-
bullying-on-the-job.html


2. https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-
deal-with-a-bully-at-work-1917901


3. http://www.workplacebullying.org/
individuals/solutions/wbi-action-plan/


4. http://time.com/17168/bullying-at-
work-how-to-make-it-stop/