Recognizing & Dealing with a Female Bully in Your Workplace

TLOMA Today

By Monica Beauregard, President, Bridgepoint

Bullying - A case study and tips to recognize and deal with it

I would like to tell you about Martha (not her real name) whom I interviewed recently to discuss her experience as a victim of bullying in the workplace. With 18 years of experience as a lawyer, Martha was hired as an in-house counsel by ABC Company less than two years ago. Before accepting this position, she had never had personal, professional or performance issues in any of her previous jobs.

Almost immediately upon commencing work in her new position, Martha was bullied by another female lawyer (let's call her Jane), to whom she reported. Martha was given work to do but not given the resources to complete it. The work she was given was all low profile, menial work and any work that grew into higher-profile, more challenging work was taken away by Jane and reassigned. Jane completely ignored Martha for six consecutive weeks in spite of the fact that their offices were only two doors apart. To make matters worse, two other people in the department joined in the bullying and two other lawyers were non supportive bystanders who did nothing at all.

After six weeks of total neglect, Martha found herself in a meeting chaired by Jane with one of Martha's clients where Jane proceeded to openly ridicule and demean Martha's competence. In a final attempt to address the situation, Martha approached her boss and was further victimized through a verbal tirade courtesy of Jane. This was the final straw for Martha, with nowhere else to turn, she resigned the next day.

Throughout her employment at ABC Company, although Martha wasn't happy, she tried to remain professional, and carry on as best she could. It wasn't until afterwards that she realized the extent to which her physical and mental health had been suffering as a result of the bullying she had been enduring at the hands of Jane and her compatriots. Martha is currently suing ABC Company on a variety of grounds and in all likelihood will be successful. In speaking with Martha about what she has been through, it is obvious that it has impacted her very significantly.

Fortunately for her, she is now in a better position and is ready to move on. Unfortunately for any unsuspecting victims within the company she left behind, they are still at risk. The culture at ABC Company is currently such that they do not recognize the severity of the bullying behaviour and will continue to tolerate it by not make changes to the existing toxic environment.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) report on workplace violence emphasized that physical and emotional violence is one of the most serious problems facing the workplace in the new millennium. A 2003 survey conducted by the Workplace Bullying and Trauma Institute found that 58% of bullies are women. It also found that 80% of all victims are female, which supports the fact that in the majority of cases, females are bullying other females.

But you may be saying nowadays everyone is being harassed right? So is it too much to expect employers to deal with each situation that is brought to their attention? The answer is no. Ignoring bullying situations can cost the firm greatly as is outlined below and by dealing with false claims of bullying you may be able to uncover other problems that need to be dealt with.

Each of the following can result from a bullying situation and can cost the firm either directly or indirectly:
- Increased number of sick leaves and absenteeism
- Lower productivity
- Lower employee loyalty and commitment
- Poor employee morale
- Unhealthy environment / culture can become noticeable to clients and
adversely affect customer service / sales
- Unnecessary turnover
- Negative media coverage
- Financial cost of successful law suits
- Difficulty attracting candidates to positions in your firm based on a bad
reputation.

The biggest issue according to Lauren Bernardi, a proactive employment lawyer and Bridgepoint Associate, is that employers are not taking bullying in the workplace seriously and although some employers have started to recognize male bullying, female bullying is often not recognized or even ignored. One reason for this is that female victims often see it as their own problem, do not understand bullying, and may not report it. Organizations also, in many cases, blame the female victim e.g. accuse them of being overly sensitive. This is not unexpected, since both employers and victims tend to expect more overt bullying behaviour like yelling and banging fists on the desk, as opposed to more subtle forms of abuse, such as ignoring, undermining, and criticizing. Both are equally as painful to the victim. In addition, current policies do not deal with psychological harassment, so complaints often fall outside of the scope of what the firm feels comfortable dealing with.

So where does bullying start? Although it is not known with certainty, recent studies point to the fact that childhood bullying does in fact lead to adult bullying. Unchecked childhood bullies often grow in to domineering, controlling adults and people who are targeted by bullies as children are often the same people targeted as adults. This bullying behaviour is further reinforced in reality TV shows and some workplaces tolerance for, or ignorance of, inappropriate behaviour.

It is not surprising therefore, that the signs of female bullying in the workplace can be easily compared to the schoolgirl bullying you see in childhood / adolescence. Female bullying is harder to recognize that male bullying because it can be much more subtle and less overt.

Although the following tactics are used by both male and female bullies, these subtle forms of bullying are more typical of female bullies:
- spreading malicious rumours
- sabotaging the victim's work
- undermining the victim's efforts by setting impossible goals and deadlines
- excluding or ignoring the victim and getting others to do so too
- persistent, excessive and unjustified criticism and constant scrutiny
- impeding an individual’s efforts at promotions or transfers
- making false allegations in memos or other work related documents

The following more aggressive forms of bullying are more typical of male bullying but can also be exhibited by female bullies:
- physically abusive or aggressive behaviour such as pushing, hitting, finger
pointing or standing close to the victim in an aggressive manner
- verbally abusive behaviour such as yelling, insults and name calling

According to Lauren Bernardi, the courts claim that employers have the duty to treat employees with civility, decency, respect and dignity. So in support of that, there are some steps that can be taken to ensure that statement is supported. Firstly, your firm needs to accept that different behaviours can constitute bullying and be open to the more subtle forms of bullying. Secondly, you may want to invest in training your managers and lawyers on effective management techniques including "sensitivity training" and what respect in the workplace means to your firm. The more proactive you are in this area, the less likely individuals will exhibit behaviours that are not respectful.

Thirdly, your firm should develop a policy or adapt your current harassment policy to include a section on psychological harassment which is often missing in current policies. And finally, your firm needs to take bullying seriously by investigating any complaints and taking concrete steps to remedy the situation. The inappropriate behaviour will persist until someone stands up to the perpetrator. Not dealing with the situation allows the bully to continue. The statistics show that bullying will not cease until the victim quits their job or the problem is reported and the bully is dealt with.

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Ms. Beauregard is President/Owner of Bridgepoint, a Human Resources Consulting and Training company specializing in the legal industry. Her firm works with law firms to coach managers, conduct harassment investigations, write effective policies, and facilitate Workplace Respect and Effective Management training programs. She is the co-author of “Hiring, Managing and Keeping the Best: The Complete Canadian Guide for Employers”, published by McGraw Hill Ryerson, 2000 and updated in 2005. For more information on our training sessions or for information on our company in general visit our website at www.bridgepoint.ca or call 416-860-9170.