Workplace bullies also tend to flaunt their status, give employees the silent treatment, make them scapegoats for others' errors, put down workers in front of others, exclude colleagues from important activities or meetings, and use threatening gestures. Currently, the law doesn't specifically provide relief to workers from abusive workplace behavior, except in cases of sexual harassment or racial discrimination, says David Yamada , associate professor of law at Suffolk University Law School. Meanwhile, management experts encourage organizations to act quickly to prevent workplace bullying. If you simply ignore the negative behavior going on, you're condoning it. Bullies are not always the psycho-pathological monsters they are popularly portrayed to be, Dr. Keashly says.
Bullying can be a response to extreme stress and frustration or a lack of supervisory skills.
Many people move up in organizations, and they are never trained how to supervise. So you teach them how to be a better manager. That's where Mr. Peterson comes in. Mostly I get called in to work with high-potential people. They're so successful with their talent, that they never develop other aspects.