Understanding, Defining and Eliminating Workplace Bullying ─ Assuring Dignity at Work

Workplace bullying is the unwanted abuse of any source of power that has the effect of or intent to intimidate, control, or otherwise strip a target of his/her right to esteem, growth, dignity, voice, or other human rights in the workplace. It is a severe and pervasive problem and can have devastating effects on the targets of workplace bullying, their organizations, and even society. Bullying can be debilitating for the target and studies have shown a clear connection between health and bullying. Health outcomes for the victims have included anxiety, depression, insomnia, nervous symptoms, melancholy, apathy, socio-phobia, and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Despite these effects, we continue to have little understanding of workplace bullying, its definition, its causes, its outcomes or how to solve this problem. Employers simply have not addressed eliminating this problem in any meaningful way and when targets look outside of their organizations there is even less support. Dr Jerry A. Carbo provides readers with a better understanding of workplace bullying, he explores the definitions of workplace bullying with a focus from the perspective of the targets, the reasons for it, the many forms it might take, as well as its effects. Finally, he presents paths to begin to prevent, detect and remedy workplace bullying, as well as longer term mandated resolutions including proposals for anti-bullying laws and the roles attorneys, arbitrators and union leaders can take to achieve a bully free workplace.

Dr Carbo is an Associate Professor of Management at the Grove College of Business at Shippensburg University. He is also a member of the EEOC Select Task Force on the Study of Workplace Harassment, a Board member of the National Workplace Bullying Coalition and a practicing attorney in West Virginia. He has worked to prevent, detect and remedy workplace harassment for nearly two decades. He has developed anti-bullying and anti-harassment programs for Fortune 500 Companies, universities and small and mid-sized employers, as well as for labor unions and labor leaders and trained union leaders and members to address bullying in their workplaces. Dr Carbo has engaged in researching the area of workplace harassment and bullying and has represented numerous targets of workplace harassment in grievances and litigation.