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From the
playground to the classroom to the office --
bullies can be found in all walks of life, but
new anti-harassment legislation in some states
could put an end to bullying in the workplace
that can be costly for employers. In this
week's (June 19) magazine, Insurance Journal's
Andrea Ortega-Wells takes a look at what
constitutes a bully and bullying behavior in
the workplace and the employer liability
insurance implications.
"We
define bullying as strictly repeated health
harming mistreatment," Dr. Gary Namie of
the Workplace Bullying and Trauma Institute,
an advocacy group that supports anti-bullying
legislation, told Ortega-Wells. Namie and his
organization have supported anti-bullying
legislation, or the "Healthy Workplace
Bill," since the first bill was
introduced in California in 2003. He says
bullying in the workplace "undermines
legitimate business interests."
While
bullying is not currently a protected category
under harassment law, Johan Lubbe, a partner
at Jackson Lewis LLP law firm, says bullying
is likely the next "evolutionary"
step in harassment law. He advises businesses
to understand what workplace bullying conduct
is and to develop preventative strategies that
prohibit such conduct in the work environment.
Coverage for
bullying claims may already exist under some
employment practices liability policies,
according to Gregg Draddy, assistant vice
president of employment practices liability at
The Hartford. Draddy says "there are
issues around bullying/harassment that are
covered, whether it's under other workplace
harassment, infliction of emotional distress,
or other areas that are covered under wrongful
acts under EPLI policies."
Robert Cap,
associate product manager for EPLI and
nonprofit D&O, at Shand Morahan, a part of
the Markel Corp. Group, argues that the
problem in coverage for workplace bullying
"is that if the allegation was simply one
of workplace bullying, it's hard to do that
negligently -- it's really an intentional
act."
That's
precisely why anti-bullying legislation is
needed, says WBTI's Namie.
(Article from
Insurance
Journal)
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