The California anti-bullying laws and regulations include protection for the discrimination against:

• Nationality
• Religion
• Race/Ethnicity
• Sexual Orientation
• Gender
• Gender Identity
• Gender Expression
• Physical and Mental Disabilities
• Association with a person or group that has any of the actual or perceived characteristics stated above

Schoolyard Bullying

Due to the large amount of bullying in schools and over the internet, legislation like Seth’s Law has been passed to ensure that bullying is taken seriously and dealt with in a timely manner to ensure the safety of the victim. The seriousness of the cases in adolescents has created the need for employers to revisit the anti-bullying laws in the workplace.

Workplace Bullying

Bullying in the workplace isn’t just restricted to the list we mentioned above; it has other forms that are considered such as:

• Offensive conduct or behavior (including nonverbal gestures) which humiliate, intimidate, or threaten
• Verbal Abuse
• Work interference (or sabotage) which prevents work from getting completed

These bullying conditions can be met either by the owner/management or fellow peers. If your peers are the persons in question, it is important to bring it up with your superiors immediately so action can be taken. In the case that you are a manager and it is the owner that is bullying you, legal action is likely your only course of action.

Are You Really Being Bullied?

Common signs of workplace bullying include but are not limited to:

• Your co-worker/employer shows aggression or verbal anger toward you
• Your co-worker/employer displays non-verbal aggression toward you (example: slamming things onto your desk violently)
• Your co-worker/employer humiliates you in front of other people (whether associated with your workplace or not)
• Your employer unjustifiably punishes you emotionally, physically, or psychologically
• Your co-worker/employer acts vindictive towards you, retaliates against you, or has sought revenge
• Your co-worker/employer belittles you based on your work, ideas, opinions or personal circumstances
• Your co-worker/employer spies on you, stalks you, or pesters you
• Your co-worker/employer threatens you with termination, unwarranted punishment, or physical, emotional, or psychological abuse
• Your co-worker/employer forces or aggressively encourages you to say or do things against your will
• Your co-worker/employer speaks with you using offensive or demeaning jokes, gossip, rumors, profanity, or harassment
• Your co-worker/employer interferes with your personal belongings
• Your employer uses unfair tactics to block your progression, advancement within the organization, or growth as an employee
• Your co-worker/employer designs a devious campaign to kick you out of your job or get you fired

If any of these sound familiar, then you are being bullied. Please take note of any specific instances to help your attorney in the future proceedings when you take action. Let this reassure you, anti-bullying laws were made to keep you safe.

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In California, anti-bullying legislation was introduced in 2003. In the nation, California is the state that was first to introduce legislation regarding workplace bullying. Workplace bullying is defined as recurring, unhealthy mistreatment of one or more target(s) by one or more perpetrators that take any of the forms such as verbal abuse, offensive behaviors that are threatening, inhuman, or intimidating. Workplace bullies are the most common forms of illegal harassment. Workplace bullying can be based on one’s gender, age, race, national origin, physical disability, religion, and number of other factors. Bullying due to those factors is illegal and every employee has rights stipulated in the California labor law concerning workplace bullying.

Workplace bullying Signs can go unnoticed because the bullying behaviors begin from little and then grow to big problem for the employees who experience bullying. The signs that one can notice bullying at work include:

• The employer punishes you physically, psychologically, or emotionally while one does not deserve that treatment;
• The employer or coworker mocks you due to your ideas, personal circumstances, work or opinions;
• The employer or coworker publicly embarrasses and humiliates you ;
• The employer or coworker actions towards you are resentful or holds a grudge seeking revenge
• The employer or coworker dismantle one’s personal belongings;
• The employer uses bias tactics to prevent your progression, or advancement in the organization;
• The employer or coworker spies you, stalks on or bothers you;
• The employer or coworker aggressively makes you to do or say things unwillingly;
• The employer or coworker alter threats to you with unjustified termination, punishment, emotional, physical, or psychological abuse;
• The employer or coworker offensively communicates with you using jokes, rumors, gossip, harassment, or profanity without dignity.

Once an employee has noticed sings of bullying, they have to report to ensure that appropriate measure is taken. The united state supreme court says that, where an employee has published sexual harassment /discriminatory harassment policy, the employer must report it under that policy and give the employer the opportunity to fix the situation. In writing the report, one should ensure that the complaints are on a right protected, set forth the harassment as a violation of protected status. Understand the rights and responsibilities if one is harassed in a hostile work environment. The report should be given to the employer and if they allow the harassment to continue or if they retaliate contact an employment attorney.

The employers’ duty in workplace bullying law is to maintain a safe workplace. Appropriate remedies that an employer can take for bullying may be to discipline or warn the harasser, to move the harasser, under some circumstances to move the victim, to do training, or in an extreme situation, to terminate the harasser.

An employer can protect employees from workplace bullying by discouraging and eliminating bullying. The most effective way to do this is by treating bullying illegal even though it is already illegal. Create a culture in the workplace where in bullying is not tolerated. The employer can take actions in an effort to create a harmonious work environment. Action such as; including bullying in anti-harassment policies, giving instructions on what to do if a bullying incident occurs, investigate and implement discipline commensurate when complaints are brought up.

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