Human Resource Blog

Workplace Bullying in Tennessee

Is workplace bullying and mobbing in TN allowed, and if not what can a person do to have the situation stopped? I have already complained to HR and the manager, but it continues.

“Bullying” is a broad term that can cover a wide range of actions from beating someone up or threatening them with bodily harm, to not speaking  to them, so it’s hard to answer your question.

I’m not clear on what you mean by “mobbing.”  It’s unfortunate when a number of employees at a workplace treat a coworker badly. But, it’s not necessarily against the law, in Tennessee or elsewhere.

A recent symposium at Wayne State University discussed this issue. Currently, disrespectful comments at work are legal, as long as they aren’t based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or disability.

HR managers report that bullying at some level goes on in 3 out of 10 workplaces. The presenters argued that everyone is entitled to respect at work under the law. A hostile work environment should not be legal, even if discrimination is not involved. Unfortunately, at this time there is no federal or Tennessee law requiring that employees be treated with respect.

Many company handbooks have policies that require employees to treat each other with respect. If this is the case, you should be able to convince the HR department to discipline employees who are being rude to you.   

If someone at work is making threats against an employee, or laying hands on him/her, then that is a matter for the police.

If an employee is treated differently because of their race, religion, color, sex, national origin, age or because they have a disability, then that is likely illegal discrimination.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 says that discrimination is illegal when it is based on race, color, religion, national origin or sex. It’s also illegal to discriminate against someone with a disability, or someone over 40. If you think that your poor treatment is related to any of those reasons, then you should certainly complain to the Human Resources department.

If the HR department can’t or won’t handle the problem, then the next step would be filing a complaint with the EEOC, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Discrimination based on race can occur even when the offenders are of the same race as the victim. Discrimination based on sex can occur when the offenders are the same sex as the victim.

Good managers and Human Resource departments don’t allow unfair treatment of employees by others. They address any problems with attendance or performance directly with the employee. However, not every manager is good at his/her job. Nor is there any law that people who work together must be nice to each other.