Missouri workplace bullying

What is “bullying”? It could be that the boss is an ogre, or maybe a co-worker has a vendetta out for you.

Regardless, the HR person won’t help without strong evidence — and usually everyone is too scared to back you up. HR then feels that the bullying is “in the eye of the beholder”, and that you are just being too sensitive.

Employee-friendly politicians have been trying for many years to get the legislature to enact anti-bullying laws. But there are too many opponents to those laws. They never pass.

There are good reasons pro and con regarding anti-bullying laws, and it is understandable that these proposed laws would be difficult to negotiate and pass. For example, it is really hard to define bullying in a way courts could make sense out of, and it is tough to get any law passed that allows for damages and attorney fees, due to the hatred of “trial lawyers” by some politicians, particularly those who proclaim themselves “family friendly”. They lie, and they cheat you into voting for them. Their real agenda is demonstrably anti-family. Come debate me — I dare you.

You will probably have to rely on the law governing hostile work environment or some other set of laws as a substitute until we muster up the political will to pass anti-bullying legislation. I go into granular intimate detail in the article on hostile work environments and other articles linked therein — check them out.

I needed to say something about bullying because I get asked about it often and I know it is on a lot of peoples’ minds.

Maybe a lawyer can help you extract some legal theories from your circumstances that could either fix your problems or help you get a favorable resolution, despite the lack of explicit anti-bullying laws.

Article written by | Tim Willoughby

Timslaw.com Missouri Employment Law

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