Labor-law experts: Employers should consider anti-bullying policies

UTICA — Most people have been bullied at one point or another in their lives. For many, that sort of teasing and harassment takes place during the school years, and recent awareness of the pervasiveness of bullying at school led to the passage of the state’s Dignity for All Students Act on July 1.

The law seeks to create a school environment free from discrimination and harassment, but what happens when students leave school and eventually enter the workplace, but the harassment doesn’t stop?

While there currently aren’t any laws on the books in New York addressing anti-bullying in the workplace, this is an issue where employers really should be proactive and consider adopting an anti-bullying policy, attorney Joseph DeTraglia says. DeTraglia is a partner at the Utica law firm of Getnick Livingston Atkinson & Priore, LLP (www.getnicklivingston.com), where he heads up the firm’s labor and employment practice group.

“As an employer, you want to be proactive about these issues because you can’t assume it only happens to other employers,” DeTraglia says of workplace bullying and the issues that can arise from it.

Workplace bullying, at its most basic description, refers to the repeated acts of an employee intended to intimidate and humiliate a co-worker or a subordinate, according to a news release from JusticeNewsFlash.com, a Florida–based legal news website.

In the release, Dallas law firm Clouse Dunn LLP offers some more specific examples of acts that could be construed as bullying including: falsely blaming an employee; treating a worker differently than the rest of the group; swearing at an employee; physically threatening or intimidating an employee; teasing an employee; spreading gossip and rumors about a worker; and excluding the employee from work or social functions.

What makes policing workplace bullying difficult, DeTraglia says, is that while most can agree those sorts of behaviors are offensive, in most cases they are not illegal. But the impact of bullying is very real, he notes, and the reactions can become severe.

“Bullying in a workplace that’s left unchecked could escalate into workplace violence,” he says. That’s why he encourages employers to meet with their legal counsel to review current policies in place and draft new ones if necessary.

All employers should have policies in place to prevent harassment and discrimination under federal laws that prohibit discriminating against employees on a number of classifications including gender, race, age, or sexual orientation.

Many actions that could be interpreted as bullying may fall under those policies, DeTraglia notes, “but you don’t have to stop there. You can have your own code of conduct.”

An employer can set forth a policy that outlines what behaviors will not be tolerated in the workplace and what disciplinary actions will result from violating the policy, DeTraglia says. Such a policy can go a long way toward creating a pleasant and productive workplace, he adds.

The basics of any good policy will include three elements, he said. They are providing an avenue for complaints, investigating those complaints, and taking corrective action where necessary.

“That’s your best defense to a lawsuit,” DeTraglia says. “That you actually have a policy and you take it seriously.”

Along with providing protection from lawsuits, having a good policy in place can benefit employers by increasing morale and productivity and cutting costs associated with replacing and training new staff members when others leave due to bullying behavior, the Clouse Dunn firm said in the release.

The bottom line? “You want to have a workplace where people are not feeling threatened or intimidated,” DeTraglia says.       

Contact DeLore at tdelore@tmvbj.com