Defining the Concept of Workplace Bullying
Workplace bullying is a type of mistreatment that occurs in the workplace. It has been defined by the Workplace Bullying Institute as "repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators." The definition continues, "It is abusive conduct that is: threatening, intimidating, humiliating, or destructive behavior; work interference — sabotage — which prevents work from getting done; and verbal abuse."
In the Crossley Law Firm’s experience, these types of behavior are often prevalent in work environments where there is a strict and hierarchical chain of command. Dictatorial management structures impose rigid power climbs that afford little in the way of help or recourse for those who may be subjected to the negative and harmful behavior of employees in leadership positions. And, as we often see, instances of workplace bullying are often reported by employees who are in the lowermost echelons of the establishment’s chain of command. Higher-ups tend to bully upwards in the hierarchy, using their privileged position to intimidate and harass lowly employees.
This can contribute to an oft-ignored problem within a company: workplace bullying can lead to a toxic and hostile environment for all employees. Left unchecked, bullying incidents can fester into a culture of mutual animosity, mistrust and apathy . The problem can grow until the very foundation of the workplace is sundered — oftentimes resulting in massive loss of productivity, revenue and morale.
Examples of negative behavior in the workplace may include the following:
Verbally abusive conduct;
Yelling at an employee for mistakes;
Openly belittling an employee about their appearance, weight, race, sex or religion;
Dismissing individuals as unworthy of further discussion;
Dismissing employees’ ideas and suggestions;
Sabotaging projects or making sure that a project is doomed to fail;
Creating impossible deadlines, refusing to provide the necessary resources or achieving those deadlines and then berating the employee for the failure;
Setting up impossible expectations and then blaming the employee for not meeting them;
Unfairly disciplining an employee, or doling out punishments that are arbitrary or capricious;
Isolating an employee by denying work opportunities or cuts in hours of pay;
Disparaging employees by name in meetings and conversations when other employees are present; and
Dismissive treatment towards employees, such as rolling eyes or refusing to make eye contact with them.
There are a number of laws that can result in penalties for employers who choose to ignore the unacceptable behavior of their employees.
Latest Missouri Legislation on Workplace Bullying
Missouri State law does not recognize workplace bullying as a form of harassment or discrimination. That means that employees cannot file workplace bullying complaints under state anti-discrimination laws.
There is no specific Missouri statute that addresses workplace bullying in the state. Although unfair employment practices are unlawful under Missouri’s Human Rights Act (MHRA) and the Missouri Equal Employment Action and Fairness Act, neither law specifically prohibits workplace bullying or diffuse bullying. Harassment occurs when a person is subjected to unwelcome conduct based on a protected characteristic that creates a hostile work environment.
The Missouri Human Rights Amendment, Section 21 of Article I, currently does not provide protection from workplace bullying. The Missouri Supreme Court has held in recent years that workplace bullying is allowed under the MHRA. That decision was based on widespread opinion that there was no explicit language in the fair employment practices section of the MHRA. While workplace bullying is not a form of harassment prohibited by state statute, workplace bullying may be actionable as a claim of infliction of emotional distress in Missouri.
Current state legislation regarding workplace bullying includes the Missouri Healthy Workplace Bill, which was introduced in both 2019 and 2021. The proposed bill would have created a law that protected employees against abusive work environments. The bill was intended to address the absence of provisions that protect employees from mistreatment at work regarding age, disability, gender, race, and sexual orientation.
There are similar bills pending in both the Illinois State Legislature and the Kentucky State Legislature. Neither proposed law has made it out of committee. Similar proposed bills have been introduced in other states, including Tennessee, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Despite the fact that workplace bullying is commonplace, workplace bullying laws have not gained traction.
The law in Missouri pertaining to the treatment of employees is limited to the general prohibition against actions that create a hostile work environment based on a protected class. All employees are protected from abusive actions at the workplace. However, the Missouri Human Rights Commission (MHRC) only recognizes claims of hostile work environment that arise from a protected characteristic, including race, color, religious creed, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, ancestry, protection of an individual with a disability, or military status. Missouri law does not recognize workplace bullying by itself.
Comparing Federal Laws to Missouri State Regulations
Federal laws have established protections against workplace harassment that cover a range of discriminatory practices based on an employee’s age, sex, ethnicity, religion and other defining characteristics. For example, Title VII prohibits discrimination and harassment in the workplace based on race, color, sex, pregnancy, religion or national origin. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits employment discrimination against persons age 40 and older, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against qualified employees with disabilities. On the federal level, employees may also have protection against bullying that occurs outside of these federally-protected categories, but only in the context of legally-protected labor activities. However, many federal employment, labor and workplace safety laws overlap with state laws. For example, laws requiring employers to maintain a healthy workplace environment free from hazards and unhealthy conditions may touch on issues related to bullying. The state of Missouri relies on both federal laws and Missouri laws to regulate workplace bullying among other things.
Employer Guidelines and Recommended Practices
In Missouri, employers are required under state law to "provide a working environment for every affected employee free from recognized hazards." This obligation was interpreted in 2007 by the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations’ Division of Labor Standards as a prohibition on workplace bullying, which it classifies as a "recognized hazard." Though this particular interpretation of the Missouri law has not been adopted by any courts, Missouri employers must still comply with general duties to maintain a safe workplace under the common law, the Missouri Human Rights Act, and state occupational safety and health regulations.
Generally, there are two categories of rules for employer exposure: (1) those that apply independent of an employer’s actions (i.e. an employee’s status as an employee is the determinative factor); and (2) those that are predicated on the employer’s conduct in some way. The best practices for employer exposure are easier to identify in the second category than the first. Nonetheless, employers should be aware of the following state and federal law obligations in both categories:
Internal Policies
The best practices for employers to prevent workplace bullying include having clear internal policies against bullying and harassment, and having procedures in place to investigate reports of bullying and harassment. Employers should also have thorough reporting and resolution procedures for complaints. Further, when an employer has policies against workplace bullying, they should provide training to all employees about these policies; training in this regard not only educates employees but also helps the employer avoid liability should an employee file a charge or bring a lawsuit based on its anti-bullying policies. Employers should also have a plan in place for prompt handling of bullying allegations.
Employee Rights and the Reporting Process
In Missouri, while there is not a specific workplace bullying law that protects employees from being bullied at work by supervisors or co-workers, employees do have some rights under federal and state law. Federal laws may apply in certain industries, and Missouri protects employees from bullying in the workplace when it creates a hostile work environment.
Employees in certain government offices are protected under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. Employees of the federal government are protected from bullying by supervisors under the law. Some federal employees who are union members are protected from bullying under a union act.
Certain employees of companies who engage with national banks are also protected. Employees at the U.S. Postal Service, as well as employees at the Tennessee Valley Authority, are also protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the basis of sex, race, color, religion or national origin. This act also protects employees from retaliation if they file complaints about workplace bullying and harassment .
Employees of the State of Missouri are protected from workplace bullying under the Missouri Human Rights Act, which protects workers from discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment and workplace bullying. Employees of the State of Missouri can file a complaint with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights. The commission will then investigate the claim.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) also investigates claims by employees that they are being harassed at work. The EEOC is a federal entity that enforces the law prohibiting discrimination in the workplace.
While the state of Missouri does not have a law that specifically protects employees from workplace bullying, employees are protected from bullying by filing a complaint under the Missouri Whistleblower Protection Act. The complaint should be filed with the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Division of Labor Standards. Employees can receive damages for actions filed against employers who bully and harass them at the workplace to create a hostile work environment.
Analysis of Related Cases and Legal Examples
Case law refers to the collection of past legal cases that set precedents for how similar cases should be handled in the future. Since workplace bullying is a relatively new area of the law in Missouri, we have not seen a lot of precedents, but there are some noteworthy cases to be discussed. For instance, in the case of Hammond v. the City of Kansas City, the Circuit Court of Jackson County held that workplace bullying is not in and of itself unlawful. However, the court also noted that workplace bullying can create a tangible employment action or adverse employment decision that may, in fact, be actionable. Apart from the Jackson County case, several other states, including New York and California, have passed legislation explicitly protecting employees from workplace bullying. While Missouri has yet to pass similar legislation, the failure of these past legal cases to establish clear grounds for a workplace bullying claim makes it important for future litigants to work with experienced employment lawyers who can help determine if there is a viable claim.
The Future of Workplace Bullying Laws in Missouri
In the absence of an existing legislative framework, and with no current legislators lobbying for the introduction of workplace bullying laws in Missouri, the future of workplace bullying legislation in the state seems uncertain. Nevertheless, there has not been a decline in the number of states considering legislation in this area. Currently, 29 states and the US Virgin Islands have proposed bills related to workplace bullying. The states include Washington, Maine, New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, Florida and Iowa, among others.
The Healthy Workplace Bill was introduced in Missouri in 2009, but was not passed and has not been re-introduced since. In fact, the only other state which had previously considered workplace bullying legislation was Illinois, where the proposed law was withdrawn and absent from the legislature since 2010.
The lack of progress in passing workplace bullying laws may reflect the difficulties policymakers face in defining workplace bullying. While the Workplace Bullying Institute has provided a working definition of the term, difficulties in establishing a clear and indisputable term leaves policymakers with little means of determining what constitutes workplace bullying, and which acts should be prohibited by law. Arguments that laws will be ineffective in terminating workplace bullying also account for the lack of legislation in the state. Those who argue against workplace bullying laws contend that existing anti-bullying laws are ineffective in curtailing workplace bullying, as aggressors achieve their objective of frightening victims by any means .
The potential for discrimination laws to address workplace bullying makes the absence of legislation to address the issue more difficult to understand. Discrimination laws such as the Missouri Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race and other characteristics, have the potential to tackle indirect or subtle bullying based on protected characteristics. Namely, protected characteristics include race, color, religion, sex, ancestry, national origin, military status, age and disability. Existing laws can therefore be applied to sanction perpetrators whose acts of bullying fall under the scope of the laws.
However, laws also pose a significant problem to policymakers in that the wide range of verbal and physical abuse that may take place in a workplace, may not necessarily constitute discrimination. For instance, if an employee is subjected to repeated racial slurs, this will likely be classified as harassment based on their race or ethnicity. However, an employee who is subjected to loud, offensive language or mimicked speech, without explicit reference to a protected characteristic, may not have grounds under discrimination laws to challenge their treatment.
As laws against workplace bullying continue to develop in other states, Missouri may feel external pressure to implement these policies and follow suit. Alternatively, existing discrimination and harassment laws may be applied to terminate acts of workplace bullying in the state. Though unclear, the future of workplace bullying laws in Missouri is, at best, somewhat murky.