California Healthy Workplace Advocates, August 23, 2008
I.
Mission - The Mission of the (California) Healthy Workplace Advocates is to raise public awareness and to compel our State to correct and prevent
abusive work environments through legislation.
A.
Florida press weighs in – With unusual sensitivity for main-stream popular press, The News-Press, a daily broadsheet newspaper located in Fort
Myers, Florida, writes about workplace bullying this month with an opening that reads, “If you're over 50, you can remember when sexual harassment wasn't even
a term. Workplace "shenanigans" ran the gamut from funny to felonious.” The article goes
on to explain general legal parameters of workplace bullying, proving that our mission is being accepted by average American
readers. http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080729/HEALTH/807290307/1013/LIFES
B.
Wall Street Journal puts light on Indiana Bullying
Trial -Workplace bullying has finally hit the pocketbook register of the United States. Check out this wakeup call, written
in response to the Indiana bullying trial’s
financial impact to business.
“Unlike sexual or racial harassment,
workplace bullying isn't necessarily illegal. But bullying can contribute to absenteeism and turnover and escalate into
illegal behavior if left unchecked, experts say.”
For those who would argue “let the market place mend itself,” we respond,
“Did the market place mend to racial discrimination or sexual harassment before they were declared illegal?” http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB121779280946008121-lMyQjAxMDI4MTA3NDcwOTQyWj.html
C. Cyberbullying in
the Workplace Survey Announced – The Human Resources people are trying. In the end,
they are not of great help to targets of workplace bullying because they work for the employer, not the employees, and there’s
no law against workplace bullying. But HR people do often have sympathy. Check
out this news release, announcing a survey about cyberbullying.
“At least 11 different types of bullying have been identified in the workplace,
ranging from physical bullying to seemingly organized campaigns involving e-mail, instant messaging, and fake websites.
http://www.expertclick.com/NewsReleaseWire/default.cfm?Action=ReleaseDetail&ID=22511
D. Lawyers talking
about workplace bullying - "(Employers) don't do anything to
prepare themselves or their employees until there's a complaint." This statement came from a Brownsville, Texas workshop for employers, presented by attorneys
in employment law. While the focus was illegal sexual harassment, the lawyers did not fail to point out
that workplace bullying also drove legal fees for employers.
“The attorneys used historical examples to demonstrate how employers frequently fail to protect themselves
from financial losses by inadequately investigating harassment complaints when they are made, neglecting to ensure that employees
are aware of their rights, and creating an inconsistent disciplinary environment.” http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/employers_88965___article.html/harassment_employees.html.
E. Business journal reflects
on Indiana bullying doctor case - The Boston Business Journal this month offers a fine anti-workplace bullying article which features
the work of fellow Bullybuster, Professor David Yamada. Bullies beware: Employees have more options
— including court — to confront bad bosses tells the story.
“To the chagrin of employees everywhere, it’s
not illegal for bosses to be jerks. But a recent jury decision to award a $325,000 judgment for assault to a hospital technician
who was bullied by a supervising surgeon has captured the attention of the legal community and called into question whether
plaintiffs now have more ammunition going into workplace bullying cases.”
To read the full article of how workplace
bullying harms the bottom line, visit:
http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2008/08/18/story1.html.
F. Canadians continue to outflank Yanks – Canada has arrived! Unlike the USA, they have embraced the notion that workplace bullying is not simply immoral
and cost driving. It is a health and safety issue of significant importance to the nation as a whole.
“Workplace bullying is a workplace health issue.
The Workplace Health and Safety Compensation Commission should provide protection and assure redress for victims. It should
provide advice to victims, have a system for taking and investigating complaints, tough penalties for employers who tolerate
it and provide follow-up to ensure the problem is rectified. They should also assist employers to develop
prevention policies and codes of conduct.”
These are words of wisdom from a New
Brunswick newspaper this month. One day, the USA will catch up to speed with Commonwealth
countries. One fine day… http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/392200.
II. Bullying in Media
A. US Attorney
Firings case goes on and on – The dismissal of U.S. Attorneys controversy is an ongoing and un-concluded US political dispute initiated by the unprecedented midterm dismissal
of seven US attorneys the December 2006 by the G.
W. Bush Administration’s Department of Justice. With no explanation they were replaced with interim
appointees, under the then-recent provisions of the 2005 Patriot Act reauthorization, according to Wikipedia.
If
Wikipedia has an entry, you know this has got to be scandalous. US attorneys are supposed to be non-partisan, like the rest
of the Justice Department. This mother-of-all work abuse cases is closely followed by CHWA.
These attorneys appear to be bullied out of their jobs for having prosecuted Republican legislators (Duke Cunningham)
and for not punishing Democratic politicians for Republican allegations of voter fraud. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismissal_of_U.S._attorneys_controversy.
This summer the case has come down to focus
on an office bully or “She who must be obeyed,” a 34 year old political aide who was given entirely too much power.
“That aide, Monica M. Goodling, exercised what amounted to veto power over a wide range of
critical jobs, asking candidates for their views on abortion and same-sex marriage and maneuvering around senior officials
who outranked her, including the department's second-in-command.”
This month, US Attorney General Michael Mukasey said he will not prosecute Goodling.
We can hope that new evidence appears after January 20, 2009, though only 9% of bullies get their comeuppance.
Whoever would argue that one bully
cannot bring down the entire workforce is a fool. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/july-dec08/doj_07-28.html and http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/28/AR2008072801007.html
B.
Bill Moyers’ Journal updates the Abramoff scandal - For a fascinating
skinny on the dominate scandal of American Politics this century, view this recent update by PBS guru Bill Moyers.
Concise, engaging, and informative, this piece will leave you wondering if it’s over. As grassroots
lobbyists, we can’t help but wonder how the Big Boys play. Their games are not always fair.
This game of influence peddling has landed legislators in jail. More may follow. Congressional
investigations are coming to a TV near you. http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08012008/watch3.html
C.
Everybody has a Camera – You can run, but you can’t hide these
days. Everybody has a camera and some of us really know how to use it. Next thing you
know, your bad behaviors are being watched on YouTube for the world to see. Bullybusters have been waiting
for that priceless video of a workplace bully in the act of being her mean self. While we wait, join
the 64,000 people viewing a New York City police officer colliding with a cyclist who was then ticketed. Judge for yourself
who was wrong. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqJJW-F4CNM
D.
Kyphon whistleblower case settled – Take heed: this
case didn’t go to court. Employees Craig Patrick
and Chuck Bates, who never met, questioned their employers’ sales practices all the way to the Justice Department. “A
whistleblower lawsuit ensued in federal court and Kyphon was accused of inflating the cost of spinal procedures in Buffalo, New York, and throughout the nation.” http://ryortho.com/NEWSSHORTS/volume4/issue25/08-04-08-NS-$15-Million.htm
The
case settled for $75 million. Kyphon
was coaching physicians to hospitalized patients for what should be an outpatient procedure, charging Medicare ten times what
it should cost. Hurray for Mr. Patrick and Mr. Bates! And thanks. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/08/eveningnews/main4334787.shtml
E.
Hospitals try to calm doctors' outbursts – Medical road rage
is the term being used to describe the workplace bullying that is so often heaped on the heads of medical workers. “The
push is inspired by a growing body of research suggesting that swearing, yelling, and throwing objects are not just rude and
offensive to co-workers, but hurt patients by increasing the likelihood of medical errors.” By January 1, 2009, The Joint Commission will require
hospitals and nursing homes to adopt zero-tolerance codes of conduct which may result in disciplinary actions. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/08/10/hospitals_try_to_calm_doctors_outbursts/.
F. Lateral damage by outgoing Bush –
Though considered to be a lame duck, George W. Bush continues to imprint
our nation’s future. This month the AP warns, “Parts of the Endangered Species Act may soon
be extinct.” Bush wants federal agencies to decide for themselves which projects should go forward
without scientific review. This fox-watching-the-henhouse approach smacks of the “Wise Use”
anti-environmentalists’ influence that has eroded the Endangered Species Act since Bush took office. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_Species_Act#cite_note-2 and http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hFQ8KPNQX-PtenHWUXW7dR6_KD1g and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wise_use_movement
G. Wal-Mart accused
of “unfair corporate bullying” – “The nation recently learned that America's largest private employer convened mandatory, closed-door meetings with thousands of its store managers and department
heads over the past weeks to "warn" them about the negative consequences if Sen. Barack Obama wins the presidential
election. The corporation pointed to Obama's support of legislation called the Employee Free Choice Act, which would put
the choice on how to form a union back in employees' hands.”
“The news of Wal-Mart's actions has set off a firestorm of public outcry as people are reacting
to their instinctual gut feeling that it's wrong for a big company to use its muscle to influence its workers' private
choices. ‘I'm not a stupid person,’ one peeved Missouri Wal-Mart employee said. "They were telling us
how to vote." http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2008/08/12/rayed_0812.html.
H.
Author who assailed Kerry moves on to Obama – Lies hurt everyone. Bullies spread disinformation.
Most of us targeted for work abuse by workplace bullies have suffered from lies that were fabricated to dishonor our
work performance. While those lies can eventually be explained, the damage done is timely and frequently
irreparable.
A book of lies about presidential candidate Barack Obama has been written by the same author who poison pinned
a similar book when John Kerry was running for president. Both books were immediate hits on best seller
lists, likely due to purchases by the party unfaithful. The book on Kerry proved to be a pack of lies.
The book on Obama has already received a 40-page rebuttal by the young Illinois Senator, including a correction of
his date of marriage. If a book cannot be researched for such a public date as marriage, what other fabrications might it
include in the commission of religious and racial bigotry?
The names of the book and its hack shall not appear here.
Bullybusters’ are read nationally and we do not care to contribute to the noise of immorality. Bullybusters
will recall, however, the lies George W. Bush told about a very good man named John McCain. Those lies
cost McCain his 2000 bid for the South Carolina primary and subsequently for the presidency.
“The smears claimed that McCain had fathered a black child out of wedlock (the McCains' dark-skinned
daughter was adopted from Bangladesh) that his wife Cindy was a drug addict, that he was a homosexual, and that he was a Manchurian
Candidate who was either a traitor or mentally unstable from his North Vietnam POW days.” None are true. What a different world we would live now if McCain were our outgoing president, instead
of the bullying Bush. Lies hurt everyone. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain#2000_presidential_campaign.
I. Employee Free Choice Act stymied in Washington – Passed in the House of Representatives 241 to 185 last March, this bill was narrowly held up in the Senate in a time technicality (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloture). “Under the EFCA, an employer would no longer have the
opportunity to demand a secret ballot election when a majority of employees have signed union cards and there is no evidence
of illegal coercion.”
Pro-business forces say this
federal legislation that would make it easier for workers to unionize, which “could be disastrous for employers and
ultimately their employees.” http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/content/2008/aug/20/pro-business-forces-rally-against-legislation/. When will they ever learn that what is good for employees is good for the
country and therefore good for business?
CHWA was told by Professor David Yamada of Suffolk University Law
School (http://www.law.suffolk.edu/faculty/directories/faculty.cfm?InstructorID=59. ),
“The Employee
Free Choice Act is the highest priority legislative item on Labor's agenda for reform of labor law. It doesn't
impact the law relating to workplace bullying directly, but certainly shifting the balance of power by facilitating more unions and
more union members can make a positive difference. If anyone is interested in a short explanation of EFCA and its significance,
you can download a briefing paper (pdf file) I authored on it for Americans for Democratic Action here: http://www.adaction.org/media/EFCA.pdf.
We've sent versions
of the paper to delegates to the 2004 and upcoming 2008 Democratic conventions.”
III. Climate at our Capitol
A. Democracy by initiative – The So-Cal based
Center for Government Studies has an insightful document available which focuses on the perhaps-dated California initiative process. The
Center’s website tells, “…the initiative process
itself has become outmoded, inflexible, confusing, complex, difficult for citizens to use and excessively dominated by money,
concludes a new report, Democracy by Initiative: Shaping California’s Fourth Branch of Government.”
While
asking ourselves why California cannot seem to balance
her budget in a timely manner, think back to 1978 when Proposition 13 was passed: In addition to lowering property taxes, this initiative also contained language requiring a two-thirds majority in both
legislative houses for future increases in all state tax rates or amounts of revenue collected. Ergo, the
minority party can hold the majority party hostage during the budget process, year after year after year. Such fun! http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/employers_88965___article.html/.
B. 2008 Public Policy Leadership Awards
given - The California
Wellness Foundation recognizes two termed-out State Senators, Sheila Kuehl and Jack Scott, both Democrats from Los Angeles County. These two are being honored
for their dedication to the health of underserved Californians. “These honorees have influenced millions
of lives through their efforts to advance policies to prevent injury and death caused by violence, promote women’s health,
expand the health care workforce and increase access to health care among vulnerable populations in California.” http://www.tcwf.org/
C. Peripheral Canal debate rages on – Once again, water politics are percolating in the Golden State. In 1982 voters declined
an initiative to build a canal that would divert water from the Sacramento River in Nor Cal to an aqueduct carrying the water
to the Bay Area and to So Cal. The major players in this recent round of water wars are Arnold Schwarzenegger
and wealthy Delta farmer Dino Cortopassi. Spending his own funds, Cortopassi issued full-page ads in major
California newspapers protesting the peripheral canal and blasting Schwarzenegger for breaking his promises to fix state government,
to thwart special interests, to limit government waste by balancing the budget, and to fix the state’s water levees.
http://www.calchannel.com/search.php?date=080408&source=senate&type=committee&title=Appropriations&Search=Submit
D. Paid Sick
Leave for all of California turfed
– Assembly Member Fiona Ma of San Francisco presented AB 2716 to the Senate Appropriations Committee this month.
Bullybusters were on hand to lend support to the bill. Though mandated in the rest of the industrialized
world (127 countries), no state in the US yet requires employers to provide employees Paid Sick Leave by legislative mandate.
Only the city of San Francisco requires this humane benefit to the workers on whose backs our economy is toted.
SF entered the 21st Century of the worker rights movement by the very workers who voted in Paid Sick Leave
by referendum in February of 2007. Ma testified that PSL didn’t cause the “sky to fall”
as a result of its passage. Other organizations testifying to that committee on August 4th made
comment that workers were being threatened with termination should they phone in sick. Research shows that
workers who work without PSL are disproportionately lower-paid workers who are disproportionately women. Unfortunately, the
committee behind the money decided NOT to pass PSL this year. Ma promises to reintroduce
this bill again next year. http://www.calchannel.com/search.php?date=080408&source=senate&type=committee&title=Appropriations&Search=Submit (one hour and 15 minutes into the hearing)
E. CalChamber tells lies
– Bullybusters beware. The California Chamber of Commerce (now called CalChamber) either tells lies
or they are seriously deluded. They would like us and our legislators to believe that our Healthy Workplace
Legislation and scores of other progressive bills would “DRIVE JOBS FROM CALIFORNIA!!!!” To
this CHWA shouts, “Liars!” Less than one tenth of 1 percent of all jobs EVER relocate out of California.
Check out this page from The Public Policy Institute of California. Click on “Business Relocation
and Employment Change in California: Just the Facts.” Then read the second paragraph.
It would take 20 YEARS to drive just 1 percent of jobs out of California. CalChamber
mascarades as being run by small business owners when in fact, it is the anti-labor, anti-environment, anti-legislation, bill-killing
arm of corporate America. http://www.ppic.org/main/results.asp?search=business+relocation and http://www.ccsce.com/.
F. After yelling episode, Migden's staff sent home –
The
climate at our Capitol is not very nice these days. Senator Carol Migden is going home to stay after this
term. She was voted out in the primary to Assembly Member Mark Leno. But that’s
no reason for bad behavior. If your colleagues can hear you screaming at your staff from the hallways,
it’s likely an act of workplace bullying. At least she didn’t throw chairs at them.
Bullybusters have been told some really outrageous stories over the years of our walking the Capitol corridors.
If those walls could talk… http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/014819.html
G. No budget
past this summer – As the summer winds down our California state budget is late once again. What was supposed
to be settled by June 15th is late for the 22nd year in a row. While the $15 billion
deficit is the obvious reason for the delay, the underlying causes are quite interesting. The biggest holdup
resulted from the Super Majority vote needed to increase taxes. Two-thirds of the legislators need to vote
for a tax increase. The minority party is larger than one-third.
While the haggling rages
on, the Governor suspended all part-time state workers and tried to reduce 200,000 full time state workers to $6.55, the federal
minimum wage, until the budget passes. In opposition, State Controller John Chiang refused.
Evidently, such an adjustment in pay is not logistically possible. It is programmed with an antique
computer program named COBOL. Even if it could be changed, the only people who would know how to do the
work are the very part-timers the Governor suspended. So the Governor is suing Chiang. That
ought to help the deficit. http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1132588.html
“Republicans
posture as bulwarks against spending-crazy Democrats, but the hard facts prove otherwise,” writes Dan Walters of The
Sacramento Bee. Since Schwarzenegger took office, spending has increased 33%. But
17% is due to inflation and 7% to population growth. Real spending increases amount to $7.4 billion.
Prison increases for an additional 11,000 felons amount to $4.3 billion, an expense Republicans adamantly supported,
according to Walters. Losses on revenues for car fees was Schwarzenegger’s campaign promise.
That costs California $3.1 billion annually.
So much for Arnold’s fixing of the “crazy
deficit spending.”http://www.sacbee.com/walters/story/1176798.html
IV.
Announcements
A. Canadian town has perfect
description of work abuse - “Harassment and lack of respect in the
workplace,” describe the municipal workforce for the Town of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada. But
at least they own it. “The union uses phrases such as a ‘poisoned work environment,’
‘a culture of harassment,’ and an ‘atmosphere of harassment and bullying at the supervisory level’
to describe the town's working culture.”
http://www.southshorenow.ca/archives/080508/news/index034.php.
B. Project Censored speaks well of Golden
State – Here’s
one CHWA can be proud of: “Project Censored is a media research program working in cooperation with numerous independent media
groups in the US.
Project Censored’s principle objective is training of Sonoma State University students in media research and First Amendment
issues and the advocacy for, and protection of, free press rights in the United States. Project Censored has trained
over 1,500 students in investigative research in the past three decades.”
PC supports national news stories that are underreported,
ignored, misrepresented, or censored by the US corporate media.” Bullybusters
can think of a few such stories.
http://www.projectcensored.org/about/
C. Zogby featured in Parade Magazine – John Zogby has been the
mastermind behind the Zogby International since 1984. Zogby International is an American market research, opinion polling company which polls, researches and consults for
a wide spectrum of business media, government, and political groups, and conducts public opinion research in more than 70
countries. This is the company that conducted the internet poll for The Workplace Bullying Institute, a
poll that has garnered significant media attention. John Zogby’s brother James Zogby, who also works
at Zogby International, is the founder of the Arab American Institute. They are sons of Lebanese Immigrants.
http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2008/edition_08-10-2008/Intelligence_Report.
D.
Former Oilman Makes Bid for Homegrown Alternative Energy – For a PBS interview of how the Big Boys
play politics, watch this interview of the rich man who financed the Swiftboat attack on John Kerry’s presidential bid
in 2004. This attempt to influence the 2008 election smacks less of bullying and more of how a rich man
tries to buy his way into heaven in his declining years. Energy independence is the game; T. Boone Pickens
is the name. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/july-dec08/tbpickens_08-11.html.
E. This Land is Their
Land: Reports from a Divided Nation – This
New York Times book review of Barbara Ehrenreich’s new work offers up: “We woke up to find that somebody
had stolen our civil liberties, our international reputation had been ruined, our mortgages had gone bad, our sinking dollar
couldn’t buy us a cup of coffee in Tijuana, the poor had gotten poorer and the rich richer and, perhaps, our country
didn’t even feel like ours anymore.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/books/review/Fairbanks-t.html
F. Delaware Employment Law Blog
– Blogger Molly DiBianca gets it. Workplace
bullying costs business much more money than this blood sport is worth. But she doesn’t get the fact
that without Healthy Workplace Legislation, bullies won’t knock it off in this lifetime. Nor has
she done her homework about our HWBill. As written by Professor David Yamada, the HWBill capitates the
dollar award to targets who succeed in filing against their workplace bully at $25,000. This is a far smaller
amount than would be the fees of a defense attorney hired to defend the antics of a workplace bully. http://www.delawareemploymentlawblog.com/jerks_at_work/.
G. Workplace Bullying: Why Women Are Affected
More – Here’s a site where you can put in your
two cents worth while learning what the experts say. http://www.diversityinc.com/public/4155.cfm.
H.
Universal Healthcare voted in next 2 weeks - California's SB 840, UNIVERSAL
HEALTH CARE (Senator Sheila Kuehl, Sponsor) is coming up for a vote in the next 2 weeks. Both Assembly and Senate will
be voting on this bill which passed last year only to be turfed by a Schwarzenegger veto.
Keep in mind that a government can better contain runaway corporate medical costs than
can individual employers. Other countries do a wonderful job, as does our own Veteran’s Administration.
Our costs are twice any other country’s, while our outcomes rank 37th.
Now is the time to lobby your legislator! Follow the link www.usps.com/zip4 to reach your district’s legislators. For more information on this lifesaving bill,
visit: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/HCA_CA/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=7081&t=housepartyvol.dwt
Next Meeting
Sat., September
20, 2008; 12 noon
Inside North Entrance
Nimbus Winery Plaza
Folsom Blvd., Hwy 50 at Hazel
Avenue
Rancho Cordova
