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Bullying in the workplace

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  • 25-11-2018 8:50pm
    #1
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭


    I work in academia and in an institution where bullying is rife. I haven't been targetted luckily but I work with a technician who bullies several people and got away with it. A senior academic, also involved in the bullying has protected this guy. The university is hesitant to do anything about it as the academic brings in good grant money to the uni. It's a shame as this academic has lost 4 PhD students as a result of her behaviour. I worked in all sorts of jobs from construction to healthcare but academia seems to be the worst for this. Is there any other type of work environment where bullying is present?


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    #2
    Stacksofwacks
    Registered Users Posts: 1,544 ✭✭✭Stacksofwacks


    Yes it does happen in workplaces but also there are workplace harassment laws what kind of bullying are you talking about specifically? Just because it is not happening to you dosent mean you shouldnt report it, because then you are enabling the bully


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    #3
    Car expert
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 35 ✭Car expert


    People that are being bullied need to remove the dildo from their hole and wake up and stand up for themselves. This isn’t first class school.


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    #4
    Captain Red Beard
    Registered Users Posts: 871 ✭✭✭Captain Red Beard


    I have friends who are nurses and the **** they have to deal with is unbelievable.


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    #5
    Mr_Muffin
    Registered Users Posts: 917 ✭✭✭Mr_Muffin


    Some people will seek to take advantage of and belittle the people that they see as 'weaker' then them - basically bullies being bullies. I have experienced this when I was younger but learnt to deal with it and it has never occurred since. Not a nice feeling to be the victim.


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    #6
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Car expert wrote: »
    People that are being bullied need to remove the dildo from their hole and wake up and stand up for themselves. This isn’t first class school.

    Thank you for a nuanced and sensitive contribution.


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    #7
    Stacksofwacks
    Registered Users Posts: 1,544 ✭✭✭Stacksofwacks


    Car expert wrote: »
    People that are being bullied need to remove the dildo from their hole and wake up and stand up for themselves. This isn’t first class school.

    Most bullies have positions of power and influence hence it makes it more difficult for them to be stopped and called out most people just leave to avoid going through the hell taking the bully on.

    Most workplace bullies are actually surprisingly easy to manipulate all you have to do is stroke their egos, give them what they want and tell them how great they are.then when the time is right, bang! stick the knife in...


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    #8
    granturismo
    Registered Users Posts: 1,899 ✭✭✭granturismo


    steddyeddy wrote: »
    I work in academia and in an institution where bullying is rife. ...

    DCU, UCD or TCD - Engineering, Science or Medicine?


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    #9
    fryup
    Registered Users Posts: 18,069 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    no one has to put up with that sh1t anymore the days of being roared at by your foreman/boss are long gone ...there are laws out there, wish i was more aware of them when i was younger:cool:
    Captain Red Beard wrote: »
    I have friends who are nurses and the **** they have to deal with is unbelievable.

    and unfortunately most of the abuse is from the general public..not much they can do bar call security

    really feel for them esp the ones working in A&E having to deal with the dregs of society on a nightly basis


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    #10
    fryup
    Registered Users Posts: 18,069 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    Armadildo wrote: »
    But he's right. If you're an awkward misfit you probably will get bullied.

    :confused:

    so from what you're saying if you're disabled or have a speech impediment or the like ...you have it coming????


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    #11
    4ensic15
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 4,691 ✭✭✭4ensic15


    fryup wrote: »

    and unfortunately most of the abuse is from the general public..not much they can do bar call security

    really feel for them esp the ones working in A&E having to deal with the dregs of society on a nightly basis

    Most of the abuse is from colleagues. Abuse from the public can be tolerated or dealt with if colleagues give support. The carry on that goes on with nurses between each other is terrible. Socially isolating colleagues, manipulating duty rosters, leaving colleagues in understaffed positions. Making unjustified allegations of wrongdoing are just some of the tricks the bullies get up to.


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    #12
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    steddyeddy wrote: »
    I work in academia and in an institution where bullying is rife. I haven't been targetted luckily but I work with a technician who bullies several people and got away with it. A senior academic, also involved in the bullying has protected this guy. The university is hesitant to do anything about it as the academic brings in good grant money to the uni. It's a shame as this academic has lost 4 PhD students as a result of her behaviour. I worked in all sorts of jobs from construction to healthcare but academia seems to be the worst for this. Is there any other type of work environment where bullying is present?

    Quite recently, I witnessed a senior person in my place being publicly humiliated by a more junior person, as odd as that might sound. I observed quietly, walked into my office, opened a Word document and recorded everything. This was my second time witnessing a similar interaction; first time I put it down to being a very bad day, second time a pattern so I wrote it down.

    The abuser is considered 'indispensable' and is like a totally different person to people at the very top. Bullies instinctively are very selective in their targets, so the sooner you marshal your sources - witnesses, first-hand accounts and awareness of where any cctv, if it exists, is located, for instance - the safer will be your working environment. At the very least, if they transgress professional courtesy and mistreat you, you will mark their cards with senior people. In writing. Also, if you're in a union use its resources because they'd meet pricks like that on a quotidian basis. And they quite possibly would be aware of victims of the very same person. You will absolutely need that support to help.

    Anyway, in a later conversation with the person being publicly humiliated I told them I had witnessed it and wrote down the details at the time so if it happened again I would pass on this note. They were quite emotional about it, said it's been going on a while but as they were going to retire soon enough they wanted to try and enjoy the last year or so. Jesus. What a sad end to a career. This upfront approach does not always work, and it's possible the person being abused feels violated when somebody says they saw them being abused. Nevertheless, I've a low threshold for thugs so I'd be quite happy to clear the working environment of such people by making very factual records of what happened, and the time and dates as well as other people who witnessed it. It's also very relevant that I'm secure in my job so I don't need to keep this decidedly toxic person on side for promotion. In other words, not everybody is in a position to do what I did.

    Make no mistake but all professional companies will sit up when they are faced with such. It's a hugely serious issue, and rightly so. In my experience, as in the OP, it's usually done by people who make themselves indispensable to the company/institution and bank on no action being taken. However, if the victim doesn't feel strong enough to take it on for some reason or another, it can only be tackled if observers look out for colleagues. One person making a complaint about somebody is tough, two or more is a different thing. Strength in numbers. Otherwise some day you might be their target.


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    #13
    m5ex9oqjawdg2i
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,221 ✭✭✭✭m5ex9oqjawdg2i


    Armadildo wrote: »
    Look I don't think genuine handicapped lads get bullied but I do think people who are weak and dont fit in are kinda asking for it.

    Nobody asks to be bullied, would you ever cop on. 18 posts and not a single insightful thing to say.


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    #14
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    Car expert wrote: »
    People that are being bullied need to remove the dildo from their hole and wake up and stand up for themselves. This isn’t first class school.

    The bullied parties are 20 year old students who are subject to sexual and threatening comments by a 47 year old Yorkshire man. He's actually the first to cry victim when people explode back to him.

    Your post is all levels of stupid.


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    #15
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    Stacksofwacks wrote: »
    Yes it does happen in workplaces but also there are workplace harassment laws what kind of bullying are you talking about specifically? Just because it is not happening to you dosent mean you shouldnt report it, because then you are enabling the bully

    There are but it's not so easy. The guy's boss backs him up in tribunals. Also in the months during a formal process the girls in question are subject to the silent treatment and intimidation. You can't do anything until a complaint is made.


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    #16
    AllForIt
    Registered Users Posts: 8,317 ✭✭✭AllForIt


    steddyeddy wrote: »
    I work in academia and in an institution where bullying is rife. I haven't been targetted luckily but I work with a technician who bullies several people and got away with it. A senior academic, also involved in the bullying has protected this guy. The university is hesitant to do anything about it as the academic brings in good grant money to the uni. It's a shame as this academic has lost 4 PhD students as a result of her behaviour. I worked in all sorts of jobs from construction to healthcare but academia seems to be the worst for this. Is there any other type of work environment where bullying is present?

    I think this is shocking. One of the reasons I went into 3rd level education was because having worked in hospitality all my life where no matter where you worked you would always have some grunt pick on you for some reason making a stressful low paid job even worse. I would have though going up the social work scale this type of behavior would be less prevalent but apparently not.

    While in Uni and more recently a business college course I was appalled by the unprofessionalism I witnessed by some of the academics. Coincidentally I'm looking into making formal complaints about 3 of the academic staff I witnessed during my last college course. Not so much bullying but just totally grunt like unprofessional behavior.


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    #17
    Daisy78
    Registered Users Posts: 1,029 ✭✭✭Daisy78


    Armadildo wrote: »
    But he's right. If you're an awkward misfit you probably will get bullied.

    Perfectly ordinary people who don’t fit your description can also be targets for bullies


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    #18
    freshpopcorn
    Registered Users Posts: 30,334 ✭✭✭✭freshpopcorn


    I always remember when I was at school there was the odd bit of bullying but nothing major. However you were always told bullies go on to be wasters and aren't successful and when you go to college you'll met loads of like minded people and they'll be no bullying.
    Some of the worst bullying I saw was when I went to college.(This may have being because I was in a mixed class which I wouldn't have being used to this.)
    and I experienced the same in the work place.


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    #19
    CinemaGuy45
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,181 ✭✭✭CinemaGuy45


    freshpopcorn wrote: »
    I always remember when I was at school there was the odd bit of bullying but nothing major. However, you were always told bullies go on to be wasters and aren't successful and when you go to college you'll meet loads of like-minded people and they'll be no bullying.
    Some of the worst bullyings I saw was when I went to college. (This may have been because I was in a mixed class which I wouldn't have been used to this.)
    and I experienced the same in the workplace.

    Mixed gender mixed race mixed social class mixed political opinions?


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    #20
    freshpopcorn
    Registered Users Posts: 30,334 ✭✭✭✭freshpopcorn


    CinemaGuy45 wrote: »
    Mixed gender mixed race mixed social class mixed political opinions?

    Mixed genders. I went to an all guys school apart from the odd girl in classes for certain subjects.
    I always thought that being in a mixed gendered class would have being great before my college experience.


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    #21
    CinemaGuy45
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,181 ✭✭✭CinemaGuy45


    freshpopcorn wrote: »
    Mixed genders. I went to an all guys school apart from the odd girl in classes for certain subjects.
    I always thought that being in a mixed gendered class would have being great before my college experience.

    Nah some of the girls are worse than the fellas.


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    #22
    Car expert
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 35 ✭Car expert


    steddyeddy wrote: »
    The bullied parties are 20 year old students who are subject to sexual and threatening comments by a 47 year old Yorkshire man. He's actually the first to cry victim when people explode back to him.

    Your post is all levels of stupid.

    Your posts have some imagination of stupid in them. Tall tales, that’s why you posted it here instead of work forum.


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    #23
    Mad_maxx
    Registered Users Posts: 13,505 ✭✭✭✭Mad_maxx


    Car expert wrote: »
    People that are being bullied need to remove the dildo from their hole and wake up and stand up for themselves. This isn’t first class school.

    Good luck getting any kind of justice if your a male who happens to find himself with a female bully to contend with, all she has to do is reach for the sexism card and management will cover their ears and eyes for fear of being branded sexist, women bosses are the worst


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    #24
    fryup
    Registered Users Posts: 18,069 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    freshpopcorn wrote: »
    However you were always told bullies go on to be wasters and aren't successful

    i keep hearing this cr@p being spouted too....most of the bullies i knew growing up are all working and successful....so that nonsense about bullies being losers who go nowhere in life doesn't add up as far as i'm concerned


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    #25
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Quite recently, I witnessed a senior person in my place being publicly humiliated by a more junior person, as odd as that might sound. I observed quietly, walked into my office, opened a Word document and recorded everything. This was my second time witnessing a similar interaction; first time I put it down to being a very bad day, second time a pattern so I wrote it down.

    The abuser is considered 'indispensable' and is like a totally different person to people at the very top. Bullies instinctively are very selective in their targets, so the sooner you marshal your sources - witnesses, first-hand accounts and awareness of where any cctv, if it exists, is located, for instance - the safer will be your working environment. At the very least, if they transgress professional courtesy and mistreat you, you will mark their cards with senior people. In writing. Also, if you're in a union use its resources because they'd meet pricks like that on a quotidian basis. And they quite possibly would be aware of victims of the very same person. You will absolutely need that support to help.

    Anyway, in a later conversation with the person being publicly humiliated I told them I had witnessed it and wrote down the details at the time so if it happened again I would pass on this note. They were quite emotional about it, said it's been going on a while but as they were going to retire soon enough they wanted to try and enjoy the last year or so. Jesus. What a sad end to a career. This upfront approach does not always work, and it's possible the person being abused feels violated when somebody says they saw them being abused. Nevertheless, I've a low threshold for thugs so I'd be quite happy to clear the working environment of such people by making very factual records of what happened, and the time and dates as well as other people who witnessed it. It's also very relevant that I'm secure in my job so I don't need to keep this decidedly toxic person on side for promotion. In other words, not everybody is in a position to do what I did.

    Make no mistake but all professional companies will sit up when they are faced with such. It's a hugely serious issue, and rightly so. In my experience, as in the OP, it's usually done by people who make themselves indispensable to the company/institution and bank on no action being taken. However, if the victim doesn't feel strong enough to take it on for some reason or another, it can only be tackled if observers look out for colleagues. One person making a complaint about somebody is tough, two or more is a different thing. Strength in numbers. Otherwise some day you might be their target.

    Thank you for supporting and protecting


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    #26
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    fryup wrote: »
    i keep hearing this cr@p being spouted too....most of the bullies i knew growing up are all working and successful....so that nonsense about bullies being losers who go nowhere in life doesn't add up as far as i'm concerned

    Ah this one is a loser. Kicked off two PhDs and a masters program and resents everyone else for it.


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    #27
    valoren
    Registered Users Posts: 5,458 ✭✭✭valoren


    The lucky thing about working in IT/Office is that there is a HR unit available if bullying takes place.
    While projects can get stressful and people deal with that in different ways, there is a difference between a disagreement or an argument and bullying. You deal with some spectacular cnuts in IT but for me it is always project related. If it ever got personal or insulting then a line is crossed.

    I am sure that any perceived bullying or emergent pattern of bullying is easily dealt with. You make a complaint to HR and have them deal with it. There is (or should be) accountability. If you make a complaint and it's not dealt with then the company has not policed it's code of duty and they can be liable for not acting. It's why such policy's exist to begin with. While the HR staff might not give a crap about an employee's well being, the prospect of damage to the company's reputation and/or financial liability for failure to follow policy seems to always provoke them into action. They could lose their jobs if they didn't apply the company policy.

    All office dynamics are different of course, in some cases, difficult people who bully are often chummy with the same HR people who would have to deal with them in a bullying scenario, there being a conflict of personal interest from HR who themselves might enable and protect their friend. A bully is the product of the very environment in which they operate or potentially operate.

    I can completely see how bullying could be rife in academia. To my mind lecturers and academic staffer's were either positive, passionate people who were very friendly and approachable or surly, arrogant pricks with planet sized chips on their shoulder. It was easy to determine who had the capacity to be a bully.

    Interestingly like versus like bullying never seems to happen i.e. the toxic asshole in the canteen who insults under the guise of 'banter' never bullies that other toxic asshole in the canteen who can throw back the cutting shade in spades. The physical bully who throws their weight around and doles out the slaps never picks on someone who looks like they'd kick seven shades of **** out of you if you even looked at them sideways. The emotional bully doesn't cause drama with those who are indifferent to them, they are drawn to those who listen to their gossip and drama etc.

    It's like negative charges repel other negative charges and are attracted to positive charges.


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    #28
    suicide_circus
    Registered Users Posts: 19,802 ✭✭✭✭suicide_circus


    I actually feel sorry for the bullies in some way. Imagine being such an utterly pathetic tosser that you bully another grown adult in the workplace. their lives must be genuinely sh1t.


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    #29
    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    I hated working in academic research - long, long hours for pittance and you better not complain about it. And weekend work frequently expected. I had no work-life balance.

    The work needs to be done and if that means pulling two or three 14 hour days a week without proper remuneration, so be it. And the academics demanding those hours did them themselves in their younger days so will have no sympathy. It’s a vicious cycle.


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    #30
    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    suicide_circus wrote: »
    I actually feel sorry for the bullies in some way. Imagine being such an utterly pathetic tosser that you bully another grown adult in the workplace. their lives must be genuinely sh1t.

    And their acolytes. There’s always acolytes. Imagine being the right-hand man/woman of a workplace bully?


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    #31
    skooterblue2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,816 ✭✭✭skooterblue2


    Follow this idea through ........ what happens to whistle blowers? They all get fired/**** canned.
    Its grand for women who hit the glass ceiling in their early 30's, lump sum and off to have a family.
    Its very few that happens to, with the lump sum.
    Lets look at Pat McCabe, Any whistle blower at a pharmaceutical company, Priesthood, private industry, food industry......... they all get tormented and then get send to dead end jobs or their health collapses. There will be "Backroom chatter" and no one will hire you afterwards. Words dont even have to be said, just an insinuation would be enough.

    The best you can do is to stand up to a bully, the more sensible idea is to quit and find a new position. Management like a bully, cos bullies get results by their perspectives.


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