Welcome to Connecticut Healthy Workplace Advocates. Workplace Bullying is the malicious and sustained targeting of one or two employees for expulsion or mistreatment. It can be a combination of any of the following: verbal abuse, falsified evidence, slurs, epithets, work sabotage, humiliation, demeaning, belittling, and the destruction of one's workplace relationships. It is health-harming activity! Bullies are usually serial bullies and they often involve your coworkers in the abuse. It is against any employer's legitimate business interests and must be stopped.

We are a group fighting to prevent workplace bullying through legislation, education, and self-help. Anyone may join this group. (We also have a presence on Facebook, if you click on the CHWA link above.) If you have witnessed bullying, if you have been bullied, if someone you care about is suffering through it, or if you just believe in keeping the workplace safe, you can be a Bullybuster! We do not ask for any money from anyone. We are affiliated with the goals of the Workplace Bullying Institute in Bellingham, WA that can be found at www.bullyinginstitute.org. It is run by Drs. Gary and Ruth Namie, authors of The Bully at Work, who are scholars, advocates and former victims of bullying. Their website has many forms of help and a lot of information. Since 2003, 14 U.S. states and some Canadian provinces have considered legislation that would allow workers to sue for damages due to bullying at work, but none has yet passed into law.

There was a public hearing on Feb. 10, 2009 on RAISED HB # 6188 An Act Concerning State Employees and Violence and Workplace Bullying, http://www.cga.ct.gov/2009/TOB/H/2009HB-06188-R00-HB.htm. The bill went through several committees, each approving it, and it was put on the calendar for this legislative session. Unfortunately, the speaker of the House did not call for a vote on the bill, so it is dead for this year. We have to come back in full force for a bill next year, but not a bill solely for state employees as this one was. We need the Healthy Workplace Bill! For more information on state legislative efforts see http://workplacebullyinglaw.org/ on the Workplace Bullying Instititute's website.

In Connecticut, our state senator Edith Prague (Edith.Prague@cga.ct.gov) has been instrumental in promoting legislation to create a remedy for workplace bullying. The bill has a few strong supporters, and they need to hear from you. It would be wonderful if Connecticut could be the first to pass model legislation to protect workers. Right now, only the discrimination against protected classes is prohibited. We need to extend protection to the entire workforce and restore dignity to the workplace. A healthy workplace is good for Connecticut businesses and good for employees! Contact your state legislators to tell them what you think: http://www.vote-smart.org/program_about_pvs.php! 

The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled that workplace bullying can be
intentional infliction of emotional distress. While a state supreme
court ruling is binding precedent only on that state's courts, other
states often use such decisions to inform their own legal thinking.
For a complete overview of this case's history, see
http://bullyinginstitute.org/education/indianacase.html.
To read the entire decision: http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/04080801bd.pdf. 

Recommended Reading: http://astore.amazon.com/healthyworkplaceadvocate-20.

It's Freedom from Workplace Bullies Week, Oct. 18-24! Check out the posters, T-shirts, Mugs, etc.: http://www.cafepress.com/bullybusters

Sign up, and stay involved! Check what's going on in Connecticut here and at the Workplace Bullying Institute's Connecticut Page.

For New England events and commentary on workplace bullying, read law professor David Yamada's blog: http://newworkplace.wordpress.com/

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you,
    then they fight you, then you win."
                                                             ~ Mahatma Gandhi