Mobbing: Illegal, Dangerous and Prevalent

bababob · 12th-May-2009

I was assigned to a brand new unit in my division, back in 1994. It was run by a feminist and misandrist. She started by introducing me at a staff meeting as someone who always "turns up like a bad penny". She did this with an obvious puss and a 'tude. She started telling me I couldn't chat with two other males, a probation officer and a psychologist ... I had to get her permission to do so! To make a long story short, I have since discovered that her actions were tantamount to something called "mobbing". The best definition I have found for it is this one from Pepperdine University's Graziadio Business Report ...

[Mobbing, supra note 3, at 41. The hallmark of mobbing behavior is an initial unresolved conflict that is preventing the targeted person from accomplishing his or her job in the most effective way. The targeted person tries with good intent to resolve the situation in a constructive way, never realizing that the people he or she is dealing with have already decided to get rid of him or her, which is "revealed in attacks of various sorts: humiliation, ridicule, stigmatization, ostracism, exclusion and isolation." Id. at 159. This leads the targeted person to suffer "self-doubt," "…confusion, tension, anger and depression." Id. These unresolved conflicts intensify and are magnified until the targeted person is suffering severe emotional distress. The more the targeted person attempts to find recourse the more those who are doing the mobbing create reasons why the issue cannot be resolved. Id. at 160. Because those doing the mobbing have no intention of resolving the conflict, the conflict escalates until it is virtually unmanageable. The targeted person becomes very ill or depressed, work suffers and it is only a matter of time before the targeted person is terminated, resigns or retires. Id. The expulsion of the targeted person was predetermined by those doing the mobbing from the very start and there was nothing the targeted person could have done to resolve the issue (therein lies the "crazy-making").]*

While I wasn't forced to retire or resign, I did have to ask the top boss to do me a favor and arrange a reassignment pronto.

People new to handling power, and who are insecure and incompetent when it comes to wielding it, will apparently target the talented and dedicated for mobbing. Learn to spot and stop it whenever it rears its ugly head.

*Are Workplace Bullies Sabotaging Your Ability to Compete? - Graziadio Business Report

**Percy** · 13th-May-2009

Bullies exist everywhere. They need to be stood up to instantly.

I recall as a young Officer being posted into an Area Radar Unit. It was not my 'first choice' of unit. I had come top of my training course, by the way. Walking into the Boss's office on day one - I had never met the man before - I did a smart salute at attention infront of his desk.

He did not look up. "I don't want you here" he said.

"No?", said I, "Good to see we see eye to eye so soon. I didn't want to come here, either".

I walked out.

He was a lot more conciliatory after that.

bababob · 13th-May-2009

Available on http://www.amazon.com :

**ingrate** · 13th-May-2009

bababob, have you read this book? Does it offer any solutions?

I know little about the subject, but I have seen what I'd call mobbing behavior from manginas. It seems to be their stock and trade.

bababob · 13th-May-2009

Quote from ingrate

bababob, have you read this book? Does it offer any solutions?

I know little about the subject, but I have seen what I'd call mobbing behavior from manginas. It seems to be their stock and trade.

___________________________________________

The book offers solutions Ingrate. So does the article in my thread opener
(The Graziadio Business Report).

**ingrate** · 13th-May-2009

Read the article bababob, but what I saw were solutions directed at employers.

I was thinking solutions for the employee besides lawsuits, or clearing out the office and shop with a seven iron.

bababob · 14th-May-2009

Quote from ingrate

Read the article bababob, but what I saw were solutions directed at employers.

I was thinking solutions for the employee besides lawsuits, or clearing out the office and shop with a seven iron.

_______________________________________________

Clearing out the office with a golf club only plays right into the hands of your adversary. YOU'LL go to jail ... YOU'LL go to the looney bin ... YOUR life will really be ruined. But, as you point out, it is tough to mount an offensive using diaries and blind copy files (standard lawyer advice). I used a private investigator to get my adversaries on tape. That worked!!

bababob · 14th-May-2009

Mobbing: Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace (Paperback)
by Noa Davenport, Ruth D. Schwartz, and Gail Pursell Elliot

I was Mobbed and Survived!!!, November 5, 2003
By Marie Paoletti
(Hayward, CA United States)

One of the most insidious ruses used by management, when they want you out, is to allow, in fact, condone, bullying by your peers. And when you complain, they ask you "What did you do to deserve it?" It doesn't matter if you are the most productive customer service rep. with a large and satisfied client base, if they don't like you or feel threatened by you, you will get mobbed.
I had not realized, until I read this book, that there was a name for what I had experienced. With a lot of counseling, talks with trusted friends and anti-depressant medication, I held my own for several years. And what was my sin? Being the Union Rep. with integrity, protecting even some of the people who made my life miserable. What really made my blood pressure go up was when I read that most people who experience severe mobbing, leave the work force and can never return. Fortunately I was able to leave after 19 yrs and start another career in another industry. But I lost seniority, affecting vacation benefits, sick leave benefits and placement on the lay off list. The good thing is that I don't experience the mobbing where I now work and I am in fact, respected, for my Union history (some of it had made the newspapers) and integrity. Being able to put a name with what was happening helped me to be able to make it through the last couple of months on the old job. I also started following suggestions in the book, including using them with the Union rep. who had also not supported me. I am heartened that this harrassment is now recognized and employers can be made to pay for it. But the courts and lawyers are still not too keen on prosecuting. This book is one of the best on the subject, an easy read, but don't read it while in the doctor's waiting room, your blood pressure will go off the charts!!

bababob · 14th-May-2009

[quote=bababob;148463]Available on http://www.amazon.com :

Mobbing - Sophisticated Bullying in the Workplace: A Social Issue With Legal Consequences (Hardcover - May 15, 2009)

The Bully At Work: What You Can Do To Stop The Hurt and Reclaim Your Dignity on the Job by Gary Naime Naime (Paperback - April 1, 2000)

Excerpt -page 91: "... Pioneer Heinz Leymann treated Swedish victims of workplace "mobbing," in the world's first clinic for those traumatized at work. ..."