Bill would allow bullied employees to file lawsuit
14 May
“We both got this chill that Kevin left it there like a breadcrumb, … because his whole bureau was clear and [there were] stacks of books everywhere and then this one book just sitting there. Kevin was very meticulous; I mean there was nothing out of place.” According to Maria, the book was underlined and filled with notes, suggesting Kevin read the book in an attempt to end the workplace torment he dealt with for three years. “We both got chills feeling like that was Kevin saying please carry on this fight, I can’t do it anymore.” “One of the dirty little secrets is bullying of that nature is occurring in our workplaces across the state of New York, and employers have an obligation to do something about that to stop that,” said Sen. Diane Savino, D-Staten Island. Savino and Assemblyman Steven Englebright, D-Setauket, are sponsoring a bill (S.4289/A.4258) that would legally define workplace bullying and allow targets to take civil legal action. The lawmakers spoke May 2 at a press conference with friends, family members and targets of workplace bullying. Last week’s press conference was held on the six-year anniversary of the death of Marlene Braun who took her own life after being tormented in the workplace. “In some circumstances … the pattern of bullying merges and has a terrible impact on everything from … the state of mind, the state of overall health and in some cases can lead to tragic circumstances. But even in its mildest form, it’s an action that takes away from the productive potential of that individual and all who work in the workplace as well as the productivity for the company, for the employer,” said Englebright. According to the bill justification, “This legislation will provide legal redress for employees who have been harmed, psychologically, physically or economically. It will also provide legal incentives for employers to prevent and respond to mistreatment of employees at work.” While working as the managing editor of a literary journal, Morrissey was constantly berated by his boss. The bullying climaxed when his boss accused him of unacceptable workplace conduct and ordered him to work at home for a week and told him not to speak with anyone in the company. Days before he committed suicide, his boss accused him of endangering the life of a Mexican journalist by not forwarding him an e-mail sooner. “I think that he felt he had no choice, his choice was to stay in his job, that he loved but where he was made sick by this constant abuse and harassment and unfair treatment,” said his sister. “Or he could quit his job in this economy and go look for another job as a managing editor of some small literary journal without a college degree and give up his condo that he loved, and his friends that he loved, and his community that he loved, and in the end it was the Sophie’s choice that he, he couldn’t make,” she said. Shortly after Morrissey took his own life, one staff member quit her job and another was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder caused by the work environment. Marlene Braun shot herself and her three dogs after being a target of bullying in her office. Katherine Hermes, Braun’s friend, said the bullying started after Braun sent an e-mail correcting a factual mistake her boss had made without copying him into the document. “This may sound trivial, but a lot of workplace bullying starts with trivialities,” said Hermes. Three weeks after the e-mail, Braun was suspended without pay for one week. Braun appealed the suspension, but human resources upheld the boss’ decision. Braun often told Hermes about her work environment. Braun’s boss often ordered her out of the room during meetings and took her name off memos she had written and submitted them as his own. After an offsite meeting, Hermes said Braun’s boss cornered her outside of her truck and screamed at her. “She told me on the phone this was worse than the way her ex-husband, who had been an abusive alcoholic, had treated her,” said Braun. Two weeks before her suicide, Braun asked her boss to transfer to a different department and expressed plans to file a complaint. According to Hermes, her boss told her he would never give her a transfer and that she was “out of here.” Ken Kamholtz said he became a target of bullying shortly after starting his law enforcement job in Yates County. At one meeting, the district attorney asked Kamholtz if he had any cases he wanted to discuss. After saying he had two cases he wanted to discuss, his boss moved to stand behind him. According to Kamholtz, his boss struck him in the back of the neck as a signal not to speak. His boss denies this claim. “The partner who saw it gave a written statement, I guess accurately defining that he grabbed me out of anger and to control me. The other two, the [district attorney] and the [assistant district attorney], their statements were that he just put a collegial pat on the back,” said Kamholtz. He was sent on paid leave and was not allowed to return to the office without passing a psychological evaluation. After returning to work, Kamholtz was arrested for filing false documents, which he claims he did not do. “27811 is my arrest number. I can’t get that one out of my mind,” said Kamholtz. “To stand there in complete humiliation against my peers whom I had built up this great reputation for honesty. I’m no Superman, I’m not perfect, but this definitely wasn’t me, and they knew it.” Despite being subject to years of bullying, Kamholtz decided to stay at his job while fighting to end workplace bullying. Advocates explain why workplace bullying is a growing problem. “It’s not defined in workplaces,” said Enid Reiley, founder of Emerald Training Consultants. “People know what sexual harassment is, and it’s trained on, … but bullying is so, so many different things happen from bullies, with the harassment and the yelling at them and making them do work over again and excluding them from things, it’s so pervasive and it’s not defined, and I think that’s another reason it’s happening so much.” The healthy workplace bill has already gained support in both houses of the Legislature. “I feel, naturally, for the people who killed [themselves], you know that’s sad. It is, it’s really a sad thing that people were pushed to that and then the other thing that annoys me is that the people who pushed them to that are still working and maintaining six-figure jobs, now that annoys me. I think that they should have done something,” said Sen. Shirley L. Huntley, D-Queens. “It’s unfortunate that human behavior has to have laws like this. This should be common sense, but common sense ain’t common enough,” said Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel, D-Great Neck. “So I stand with the sponsors of this bill and my colleagues to make the workplace a comfortable, safe place, kind of like I felt when I was in kindergarten, comfortable and happy to be there. That’s how work environments should be.”
Sen. Diane Savino, left, speaks about the importance of the workplace bullying bill she sponsors along with Assemblyman Steve Englebright, center and Sen. Shirley L. Huntley, right, who is a co-sponsor of the Senate bill. Photo by Justin McCarthy.When Kevin Morrissey took his own life it came as a surprise to his sister Maria. When she and his friend Waldo went through his apartment they found a clue next to his suicide note: a copy of the book “Working with the Self-Absorbed: How to Handle Narcissistic Personalities on the Job.”
