How bullying works: A case study
A real-life example of bullying in the workplace illustrates just how serious the problem can be. Barry L. Klein, PhD, a licensed psychologist practicing in Atlanta, relates the following story:
"My patient, who I’ll call Sue,’ had worked for a huge multinational company for 20 years. She was a wife and mother, whose family was very dependent on her salary. She took great pride in her work, and had put herself through college at night to earn her degree.
"She was put in the position of administrative assistant to another woman who, over a six-month period, had had eight people in that position quit. She had such a bad reputation that when customers called they refused to speak to her and would only speak to her assistant. She used the most vile language, would yell and scream at Sue, and call her all kinds of names.
"Sue was proud of her degree, and had put her diploma on the wall of her cubicle. Every time this supervisor walked by she accidentally’ knocked it off. Sue went to the human resources director, who said they were sorry, but that nothing could be done. If she wanted out’ she could quit, but there was no position to which she could transfer. But Sue was smart enough to have kept a daily diary of everything that had gone on.
"Meanwhile, she had become extremely depressed, and couldn’t even get out of bed in the morning. She came to see me. I diagnosed her as having major depression, and I wrote a letter that she gave to the human resource director. I also told her to forward the letter to the company vice president in charge of human resources in New York. He eventually flew down to Atlanta and demanded that she turn over all her notes and copies — that was his primary concern. She refused."
(Editor’s Note: The end of this story has yet to be written. "Sue" is contemplating legal action against the company.)
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