Since the release of the book, I recently was terminated from my position under the guise of a Reduction in Force. Of course this is not the case; it is the culmination of the targeting, retaliation and attempt to rid me from the bully’s sight. This campaign of terror had been endured long enough and eventually they were going to sever ties with me if it killed them or if they had to break the law which they did. They broke the law because it was due to racial discrimination, and discrimination against an injured worker.  But, breaking laws is something they do not have a problem with. You see, the director has promoted and supervised a spouse which is illegal in County Government. And, the director has also but people in positions who did not apply and follow the procedures for applying such as taking an exam, interview, and being put on a list of qualified applicants.

These positions ARE civil servant positions which means that we, the taxpayers have a right to expect fair, treatment without discrimination, intimidation, or retaliation. And we demand that as taxpayers, the Board of Supervisors enforce these rights.

You can get a glimpse of what the book is about by listening to this interview given on Undercover Lawyer’s podcast in 2010:

“Episode 12 features an interview with Bully Boss survivor turned author Marilyn Veincentotzs.  Marilyn, who also goes by “Dr. Vee”, learned from “Work Laws Exposed” how to fight back against a bullying boss.  Then she helped a good friend do the same thing.  Then she took her expertise in organizational psychology and wrote a book, “How Organizations Empower Bully Bosses: A criminal in the workplace.”

http://www.bigcontact.com/undercoverlawyer/episode-12-bully-boss-survivor-marilyn-veincentotzs at Undercoverlawyer.com

And, on Real Recognition Radio Interview in 2010:
http://bit.ly/okmFYF Real Recognition Radio

Stay healthy as it is hard to fight any battle when you are not feeling well and strong. There is more information at bit.ly/cOUxrT

Whatever happened to teaching and modeling of character? Do we even know what it means any more? When was the last time you heard someone refer to another as having character? Wasn’t it once a term highly valued?

Moral strength; self-discipline, fortitude were commonly spoken but now they are rarely mentioned. Do our children or grandchildren know what it is to have character?

If as a society there were more leaders, businessmen, with ethics, character and charity, I do not believe we would have so many ruthless, bully bosses, nor would there be so much corruption and lawlessness among visited upon society.

This is a time when it is rare to find a politician, a CEO, or clergy who is beyond repute, or who can be held in such high esteem as his character is never questioned.

When did it become expected to see politicians and business leaders weekly in the news for stealing, lying, cheating in some form or fashion? This has become the new normal.

We expect less from those we elect to run our government, businesses, and schools. Our standards have been dumbed down just as have our educational systems.

It almost appears that the dumbing down of education has served the purpose for those who wish to scavenge, robe, and pillage can do so with little or no scrutiny from a society who can barely read or comprehend a sixth grade reader. Is that what we have become? Or, allowed ourselves to be manipulated into accepting?

It is no wonder that bully bosses in the workplace feel empowered and unstoppable. Who has the will to stop them? Their bosses? Their bosses who are probably without character?

There is more information at bit.ly/cOUxrT

Listen to my interviews here at these links:
http://bit.ly/okmFYF Real Recognition Radio

and

http://www.bigcontact.com/undercoverlawyer/episode-12-bully-boss-survivor-marilyn-veincentotzs at Undercoverlawyer.com

Globalization has led to the ordinary citizen, worker, mother, student, having little concern to the Corporation/Government.

This is a new paradigm; one that has creeped upon us slowly, inch by inch catching the average person quite by surprise.

And, all the while the corporations and government bureaucracies have collaborated, conspired, to reduce the importance of the people to the lowest common denominator less in value than the corporation.

So, if in your workplace you have found that bully bosses over the course of the past several years has not decreased but increased there is reason. The bully bosses of the workplace have become even more empowered than they were before the Too Big To Fail era.

The worker will not find justice in the workplace which empowers the bully boss and neither will the worker find the courts generally objective to the rights of the workers as opposed to the rights of the employer.

What can you do if you find yourself in a workplace with a bully boss? First, and foremost, keep accurate and detailed notes of all communication (face to face, telephone conversations, etc.) any encounters (meetings, conferences, etc.) should be documented. Just think of it as journaling your daily life at work. Should you ever have the need to counter allegations, or justification and evidence for filling a lawsuit this information will prove to be invaluable.

Although it may be very tempting do not share information with your co-workers; as much as you may feel the need to confide in a comrade, you cannot afford to let any information leak into the hands of your tormentors.

Stay healthy as it is hard to fight any battle when you are not feeling well and strong. There is more information at bit.ly/cOUxrT

Listen to my interviews here at these links:
http://bit.ly/okmFYF Real Recognition Radio

and

http://www.bigcontact.com/undercoverlawyer/episode-12-bully-boss-survivor-marilyn-veincentotzs at Undercoverlawyer.com

A team of two grief counselors were sent to help us to express our emotions regarding the two sudden deaths. During the small group (13 employees in each group) sessions what was revealed was that the majority of those grieving were not grieving over the deaths of their co workers but instead, over the working conditions they were suffering under and the bullying by some of their supervisors.

The grief counselors were so overwhelmed with the sadness and depression they were not prepared for the level or depths of these emotions. Now, comes the embarrassment by the organization who were given the general consensus of the workers: the organizational morale of its employees was in the toilet and on the brink of total collapse.

So, why would it take an outside consultant to simply sit for only seconds in the midst of 13 strangers, to get them to share the overwhelming grief and feelings of betrayal experienced and caused by the organization?

What the employees learned themselves was how much they all had in common in their feelings of low morale and disdain towards those who they reported to; feelings of being treated differently, targeting, discrimination due to age, disability, race, etc. There were some who were visibly distraught, some in tears, and some enraged at the behavior of those who had at one time seen them so favorable among their peers. Now, they were feeling tossed aside like an old shoe, no longer of value, and disposable.

Some said they felt their treatment by their superiors was intolerable and some were feeling retaliated against for having serious illnesses or disabilities.

Murder by Proxy, a movie that gives the untold stories of many workplace violence cases, is a documentary which tells why it often occurs. In that room, on the day the grief counselors came to help heal I felt that anyone of us could have, given the right situation become a statistic or a person portrayed in that movie.

In the recent complaint by Nelson, an 18-year legal secretary formerly  of the Jones Day law firm, several associates, partners and HR personnel were alleged to be bullies. These allegations have seemingly caused “other” possible “bullies” to squirm a bit. It appears from posts to the websites which posted the story, that other “Nelsons” experiencing horrific treatments which demeaned, intimidated and humiliated them were common place at Jones Day. Yet, there have been as one would expect, such loud protests from those who which to remain anonymous, that one must legitimately conjecture that they are too, of the same ilk.

Large law firms, are apparently, bastions of treating their legal secretaries and lowly newbie associates as mere servants, to be stepped on, ordered to do menial and subservient tasks relegated to those who are paid to do such work. Women are mere sex objects, to be used as such, and never respected. Many who find themselves working in such conditions, once they have left, vow to never work for another legal firm. So, why do such firms have such a culture as one in which women are seen as objects to be used and abused then tossed aside? Do power, money, and privilege create the environment which produces such cavemen-mentalities that find it acceptable practice to demean, and disrespect women and people of color? Were the allegations not so specific and not made against lawyers, one might suspect there was little reason to accept as possible truth. But, considering the specific quotes alleging racist remarks and made against attorneys who of course have no challenges in defending themselves, it gives one pause only for a moment and you think “why would she lie?”

Prior to Nelson courageously standing up for her right to work with dignity and respect, there was little hope for targets working in legal firms. Formerly, legal secretaries such as Nelson were more likely, than not, to accept being treated like chamber maids, servants, or unpaid workers. Posts from other legal secretaries indicate that they too, had experienced being belittled, humiliated, demeaned and violated as human being deserving of dignity and respect.

It appears that not only did the men allegedly dispense such treatment but women also who were empowered, allegedly through “sexual favors”, became the tormentors as well.

How much money, privilege and power does it take to create such incivility in the workplace?

This case, Nelson v Jones Day, is such a story of courage. Here, we are presented a complaint filed by a secretary formerly employed by the well recognized Jones Day Law firm. This complaint is filed by Nelson who had been employed by Jones Day for over 15 years at the time of the original complaint. She alleges matters that will easily be proofed or disproved in trial. Would anyone make such allegations against above all a Law Firm, who most assuredly would easily have the case dismissed based on lies? No reasonable person would do so. It would be justified to assume Nelson was indeed a reasonable person since the “Firm” chose to retain her employment for 15 years or more.

Having read numerous complaints and allegations from targets of workplace bullies, it is quite uncommon for individual workers to stay at a workplace and fight. Rarely, if ever will it be found that a target of a law firm will stay and fight for obvious reasons. The unabashed attempts to muddy the waters and make Nelson’s allegations appear ludicrous or frivolous does not hold water, and is not humorous in the least bit. In fact, it makes light of the fact that the types of allegations made in this present complaint are actually occurring in workplaces across this nation and globally, on a daily basis; and, is a sad commentary on nations considered to be better than Third World countries.

Allegations of serious racist remarks by several of the bullies named in the complaint are not something anyone having worked in a law firm would make knowing the legal ramifications. Nelson was a legal secretary and as such, knew more than most of the associates who were still green. To allude or accuse her of making inflammatory remarks regarding law associates or their HR, is preposterous, and wishful thinking.

After carefully reading the posts on these various sites where the story was reported, I found it interesting that the defenders of Jones Day, did not seem to read the entire complaint. It can be found at

http://blog.ebosswatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Nelson-v-Jones-Day.pdf.

Other posts in support of Nelson, appeared to be from former Jones Day employees who  listed their own allegations which corroborated Nelson’s allegations. Anyone who has ever worked in a hostile working environment and decided to stay and fight for their job and dignity, will agree that it is not a fight that one takes capriciously. Nor does one embark on such a battle without the understanding that it will be a hard fought one;  one that will be costly in terms of emotions, health, and money. At the time of the original complaints in 2007, Nelson was still employed. She had much to loose and stood to gain very little if anything by standing up to a multi-national, global firm such as Jones Day, where she had few allies.

No one can, at this juncture claim to know the truth, the whole truth, except those involved in this litigation, however, some things can be deducted from what is known. What is known is that Nelson stood to gain little but had on the other hand much to loose potentially, including: her job, reputation (likelihood of being black-balled from law firms), financial loss in funding this lawsuit, 18 years of friendships, etc. Of course if she won, it could be substantial or a very small amount. The odds were surely not in her favor to stand up to Jones Day. And, with so much to loose, Nelson had to have that she stood to gain than a mere chance of winning a monetary award; it would have to be something more likely to be priceless, something money could not buy – Maybe something that workers are deserving and demanding say – D-I-G-N-I-T-Y?

I was very disheartened to find that my battle was not with one or two bully bosses but with a bully boss culture which condones this criminal activity of bullying, harassing, and intimidating hard working well-meaning employees for no reason. It has been the practice of this organization for which I have worked, to harass individuals when they are undergoing extreme life crisis such as life threatening illnesses, death, divorce, etc.
And, they bully these employees relentlessly. They never give the person a chance to recuperate from one attack before they are striking again and again.

The organization as the bully demands a different strategy and a different mentality from the target. You must know that it is a war; you are the target and the mission is to take you OUT. They may retreat for a bit when you catch them off guard with a strategy but understand they will only be gathering their new strategies to come for you once again. They are doing what they must to stay out of harms way of those who will turn on them if the mission is a failure. I have seen what can happen to those who fail to accomplish the goal; they are banished forever, either through ostracizing them, or forced retirement, or resignation. No your attackers do not, cannot fail at their mission.

In this economy the hundreds of applicants applying for one opening, you can ill afford to take your job and shove it. You must fight back, take your rights and shove them up the organizational hierarchy, but legally and with support from your legal team.

My next article will discuss why Johnny can’t read due to the principal bullying the teachers.

As always we welcome your comments and suggestions. Stay well, and Employed, fight back!

Please note CEO’s/HR professionals:

We value your input. If you are an executive or HR professional please share how your organization handles investigations of bully bosses or harassment.  Perhaps your experiences of success can be used for learning organizations.  You can choose to remain anonymous.

This is the first of many case studies I will be sharing informally on the topic of “How organizations handle employee complaints of harassment/bulling by bosses.

This is a third sector Hierarchical educational Organization with over 5,000 culturally diverse employees.

Typically complaints of those staff without union representation are handled in the following manner:

Formal complaint is filed with Human Resources by employee

1. Individual is interviewed within 2-3 weeks depending the amount of complaints and investigators available. Witnesses are interviewed.
2. After the formal interview, the employee is told that within 60-90 days they will receive the report which will only give information whether they found the complaint valid or not.  There is no information given as to whether any of the employees were truthful or whether any one will be receiving any consequences or follow up.
3. The employee who complained as a general rule in this specific organization is found to have a complaint that was not substantiated by the investigator.
4. The investigators are internal and have dual roles, both as HR representatives and as investigators when needed.  These internal investigators are employees who have worked at this organization in various capacities for over 15 years acquiring many long term friends out side of the job, and very close co-worker relationships. All of these relationships among the investigators/HR and those bosses being complained about, serve to discredit the feasibility of objective or impartial investigation results.

(Fall out from such investigations further alienate the complaining party from their colleagues who want no part of being a snitch nor of aligning themselves with a person who is not going to win against the organization.  Now, management considers the complaining worker fair game and even more vulnerable to not winning any support)

(Bottom Line:  The organization ALWAYS wins in these investigations but they PAY royally for the privilege.

• AFTER the investigation this is what occurs typically:
• The employee is harassed by the immediate supervisor relentlessly.
• The employee becomes ill as a result and files a worker’s compensation claim.
• The organization’s insurance carrier, sends the worker to a doctor and that WC doctor turns in a report to the carrier who ALWAYS denies the claim.
• But, the company expends up to Ten thousand dollars per claim to the initial treating physician.
• Then, the worker hires a WC attorney. If the WC attorney is really good and knowledgeable about these types of cases, the worker typically is paid on average of ten thousand dollars or more; but the actual amount expended by the insurance carrier is much more.
• The WC attorney will usually ask for more therapies, etc. for a period of 6 months to one year.  That doctor is then paid by the insurance carrier when the case settles.

Some of these cases go from the WC case being filed to also a Civil case being filed for damages of Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress.  This organization, X, does not ever go to court.  They do not want their dirty laundry aired, so they simply go to mediation and pay out of court.

How many cases and how much money is lost annually on these cases?  I know personally of approximately 20 cases which settled last year and about 10 that are on-going.  You can guess based on the above information the amount of money which is used to squash, cover-up and protect the bully bosses.  Tens of thousands each year, minimally are used for these cases.

The bully bosses who have a reputation are well known, connected to those who do the investigations and to their bosses as well.  This management style is encouraged and promoted silently while openly it is denounced.  As a result the bully bosses receive the message to continue doing what you do and we will back you up.  There is no one held accountable for the actions nor the fall out which results from the continued bullying, and harassing of workers who are targeted due to whatever the bully fancies at the moment.

This case is representative of many other organizations which continue down the path of ignoring and empowering the actions of the bully boss for self-serving purposes which are costly.

Who are these bullies in this organization? Are they highly valued for their expertise, education, relations? These are some of the questions we will address in an upcoming article on “So why is the bully boss still here?”

Marilyn is an organizational consultant, keynote speaker, advocate for dignity and respect for all in the workplace, and author of   “How Organizations Empower the Bully Boss:A criminal in the workplace ” (link: http://bit.ly/cOUxrT)