Saying No to the Culture of Death

When there is disharmony in the workplace the level of stress of an individual can rise dramatically. When the disharmony is the result of workplace harrassment, then the detrimental effect upon the victim is not so easily measured. If the victim is very sensitive, there is always the possibility that he or she could end up committing suicide as a way out of the harrassment. This form of harrassment does not have to be sexual, and in fact work place harrassment is rarely of a sexual nature. It is more than likely that the person who is doing the harrassing is of the same sex as the victim.

I have experienced this kind of victimization on more than one occasion and the scenario that was played out for my friend Julie is further proof that work place harrassment is a situation that is well hidden within the workplace, and it is also proof that management will often support those who are doing the harrassment at the expense of the victim. The way in which Julie's story played out, the accusations that were made against her had led to her being on what the HR called a PIP or personal improvement program. This PIP meant that Julie had to be at work on time and she was not allowed personal phone calls, plus a variety of other restrictions. It also meant that the women in her team had a perfect opportunity to continue their harrassment up to the point when she finally lost control and let her temper fly against the team leader. The note taking on Julie's every move was really appalling. If Julie was not a woman with some strength then she would have ended up quite a mess because of the management approved workplace harrassment.

In the past I have either been the victim of workplace harrassment, or I had witnessed what happened to others. In one particular case in the Australian Public Service we were forbidden to talk to a man who was marked as one who was no longer required within the registry area of the department where I had been working. The man was isolated from the rest of the workers, and when I ended up working in the same area as this man, I was cautioned about talking to him. No worker should be subjected to such tactics as being sent into coventry in an attempt to force the person to resign. That kind of treatment has a devastating effect upon the psychological well-being of the worker. When this happens to someonw who is mentally fragile, there is always the risk that the person will crack and end up committing suicide rather than continuing within the situation.

 The woman responsible for that particular tactic believed in isolating the workers that she did not personally like. She thought of herself as a good manager, even though the majority who worked under her, hated her guts. The stories that were being spread about this woman were an indication of the level of hostility that existed within the area. She was oblivious of the way in which most of the others saw her as a manager. I was one who was subjected to her nastiness as she exiled me to the store to do work that was simply a waste of time. The way in which she exiled and attacked those who worked under her was truly disgusting. Robin was responsible for much of the disharmony in the workplace. She also encouraged certain forms of behaviour amongst the people who staffed the Registry. She allowed the people to harrass a woman who was partially deaf, and she caused a problem for another man who was also responsible in part for his own exit from the public service. 

The lack of harmony that I witnessed at the time was not in the least bit necessary. If Robin had treated her staff properly and had used better work place principles in order to produce the best from the staff then she would not have been hated with so much vigor. I can remember when I came into the area she made it very clear that she did not want me to be there. She was extremely rude towards me, and she even attended a seminar on "dealing with difficult people". After she had attended this seminar she began to make life hell for several people in that section of the department. If someone failed to perform, usually due to her own incompetence at making sure that people understood what they were meant to be doing, then she either isolated them in some way, or she made their lives so miserable that they made the decision to take a redundancy.

Being a target for redundancy that is not wanted is a very unpleasant experience. I can remember how I fought with Robin at times because of the way that she treated me. I can remember how she plotted against certain people, including my friend Helen "She has to go", according to what Robin had said on the telephone to the woman who had been responsible for harrassing Helen in the workplace.

There is a real theme here, for every time I have come up against workplace harrassment, the perpetrator has been a woman. In most cases the woman has been the one who has deviously devised ways of attempting to get rid of staff by trying to force them to resign - voluntary resignation means that there will be no payout from redundancy. Women in the workplace can be mean and spiteful, and they can also do other mean things after the person has been forced out. On the other hand, the harrasser, if she is forced out, can then turn on the victim in other ways.

Jennifer was employed by an American multinational within the Pharmaceutical industry. When I joined the company, Jennifer already had the reputation of one who was in the habit of being nasty to others. She used to have goes at me for no particular reason. It was usually something that was said under the breath so others did not hear or see what she was doing. Then there were the false accusations about use of the printer - I was blamed for holding up the printer even when I was not printing. Jennifer used to get paranoid if I was even looking in her direction. Without a doubt Jennifer was jealous because my husband arranged to send me flowers for my birthday at the workplace. The real harrassment from Jennifer happened after I received the flowers.  This happened at the time when my father had another stroke and he was dying. In this kind of case the sniping is usually something that is low key. Jennifer did little things, such as deliberately pushing my work off the printer and deliberately allowing it to drop to the floor. She would say things very quietly so that she was not heard. Eventually, things got out of hand, and Jennifer had come sneaking up behind me, for I was unaware that she had gotten up from her desk and was behind me until she began digging her fingers into my back and pushed me. I had gotten up from my desk, and was making my way upstairs, when I stopped to let my supervisor know of my movements. I was not aware that Jennifer was behind me, and suddenly she was confronting me, so as she went past and was out of the way I called her a stupid bitch under my breath. I can hardly credit that the bitch heard what I had said. She turned and challenged and then threatened me for saying something under my breath. She was acting in a very menacing way. I complained to the HR about what had happened. During the afternoon there was a further incident, and Jennifer was following me, such that I was spooked over her actions. Whilst I was away attending my father's funeral, Jennifer was informed that she was redundant. Somehow or other she blamed me for this state of affairs, but I was about the 4th person who had complained about her behaviour, and she was marked. 

My nightmare began when Jennifer had used her final weeks in the company to plant poison in the minds of my co-workers. The members of my team began to ignore me, and one Irish woman actually turned her head away so that she did not greet me as usual in the morning. This behaviour was totally shocking. My co-workers had placed me in Coventry, causing me stress, and dystress within the workplace. In the end, I began to behave irresponsibly within the workplace, not even caring about doing my work, and finally the time came to part the ways. I took the earliest opportunity to depart such nastiness. The three young women who were my co-workers in that workplace and behaved in an appalling way. They should have been counselled about what they were doing. I was left feeling isolated from the team members, but other staff members gave me support until I finally left the workplace.

(to be continued)