The Cost of Bullying in the Workplace: What Employers Need to Know

Workplace bullying has been an issue that employers have battled with, and the complexity of bullying scenarios has complicated any successful legislative action. While the law offers protection to people who are mistreated for belonging to protected groups such as age, race, nationality, religious belief, gender, and disability, it does not offer protection where an employee is mistreated for any other reason. The lack of state or federal legislation dealing specifically with workplace bullying creates confusion for both employees and employers.

The strain that workplace bullying places on employees, and the attendant costs to employers, is enormous. Legislatures in 30 states have introduced bills to address the issue, but not one has yet been passed into law. Such legislation, often titled “The Healthy Workplace Bill,” attempts to define what constitutes an “abusive work environment,” provide an avenue for legal redress for employees, and at the same time, offer employers protection if they have engaged in proactive steps to address bullying.

This course, presented by Jeanne Christensen, Partner at Wigdor LLP in New York City, reviews the legal protection offered to employees for workplace bullying, addresses some of the pending legislation on workplace bullying, and offers practical guidance for employers on what they need to know about workplace bullying. This course outlines the national landscape, and will refer to the status of legislation in a number of states, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, Texas and California.

Learning Objectives: 

1. Identify what constitutes “bullying” in a workplace environment
2. Assess the protection current legislation and case law provides for employees, and what burden it places on employers
3. Address the current status of pending workplace bullying legislation, generally and in some specific states
4. Provide practical guidance for employers on how pending workplace bullying legislation will affect them
5. Explore best practices in the workplace in the absence of legislation