To: Antonio Parkinson (TN-98), The Tennessee State House, The Tennessee State Senate, and Governor Bill Lee
Stop Workplace Bullying in Tennessee Now!
Tell Governor Bill Haslam, Speaker of the House Beth Harwell and Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey to pass House Bill 1981 to ensure a healthy, professional and peaceful work environment for all Tennesseans.
Why is this important?
Examples of workplace bullying include:
Spreading malicious rumors, gossip, or innuendo that is not true
Excluding or isolating someone socially
Intimidation
Undermining or deliberately impeding a person’s work
Physically abusing or threatening abuse
Removing areas of responsibilities without cause
Constantly changing work guidelines
Establishing impossible deadlines that will set up the individual to fail
Withholding necessary information or purposefully giving the wrong information
Making jokes that are ‘obviously offensive’ by spoken word or e-mail
Intruding on a person’s privacy by pestering, spying or stalking
Assigning unreasonable duties or workload which are unfavorable to one person (in a way that creates unnecessary pressure)
Under work – creating a feeling of uselessness
Yelling or using profanity
Criticizing a person persistently or constantly
Belittling a person’s opinions
Unwarranted (or undeserved) punishment
Blocking applications for training, leave or promotion
Tampering with a person’s personal belongings or work equipment
And more...
It is estimated that at least one third of all the employees in the state will directly experience health endangering harassment, intimidation or bullying during their work lives. This form of mistreatment is more prevalent than sexual harassment.
Harassment , intimidation and bullying in the work place can inflict serious harm upon targeted employees which include shame, humiliation, severe anxiety, depression, suicidal tendencies, impaired immune systems, hypertension, increased risk of cardiovascular disease and symptoms consistent with PTSD.
Additionally, harassment reduces workers productivity, morale; however it increases turnover rates and medial/worker compensation claims.
Under current law employees who are subjected to harassment, intimidation and bullying ARE NOT protected if the employee cannot establish that the mistreatment was motivated by race, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, religion.