I’ve always worked in office environments. Since 2009, I have been employed by a high-profile business. In 2014, I moved into a new area of the business. This was a really exciting time for me as I had landed in a great department, the department everyone wants to work in — so much so that it is almost glamourised. I was determined to learn the job quickly, I wanted to be an effective employee as soon as possible. I read and watched and learned. I was recognised very early on as having the potential to be an asset to the team.

I had an excellent record for producing written documentation to a high standard — a standard so high that management would often compliment my writing style in team meetings. As a result, I often had my colleagues ask me to proof their reports or ask for advice on how to structure their writing. I prided myself on being a mentor and a coach to others and loved to help others whenever I could. I have always enjoyed helping others.

I was...

I was a registered nurse at the a hospital in Worcester from 2014-2016. During that time, I was injured by a patient on the job. I had previously been involved in speaking out for patient safety and staff safety through our union, the Mass Nurses Association. We were highlighted in a news story by Fox 25 Boston's Mike Beaudet on the unreasonable amount of violence occurring at the hospital and the leadership's unwillingness to address the issue. After this, the bullying by the director of nursing, assistant director of nursing, and the worker's compensation manager who was handling my claim became worse.

I was denied pay for about 4-5 weeks, with no reason given other than my documentation was insufficient (it was not). I retained an attorney who assisted me in navigating through the claims process, had two surgeries to correct the injury to my left knee, and am now left partially disabled. I was accused of 'faking my injury' so that I could 'take time off for school' (I had started...

I spend my days researching for anything to help me fight "city hall." Today I came across this article: "Workplace bullying remains in the shadows." While my story falls under many different terms, bullying it high on the list.

Per the EEOC, you HAVE to prove your harassment is due to race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, ancestry, or protected whistleblower status. How would someone know WHY they are being harassed/bullied? Yet to get any help under The Civil Right Act, a victim HAS to prove it was for a one of the reasons listed.

Huge corporations almost always have an ethics policy, and part of that policy is keeping employees in a safe work environment. If it is a public company, you have investors to be accountable to, too. Everyone from the CEO to the janitor has to adhere to that policy. In my case, we have to sign and acknowledge it. Yet, who is holding the company accountable for the ethical treatment of the employees by the company?

I had worked in state government for about 18 years after having graduated from Boston College with a BS and an MBA from Bentley College.

I had been given a supervisory role within an IT group. Three months later, my director got transferred to another group, and another employee got promoted to be the director of my group.

I thought it was just a personality conflict at first. He started subtly criticizing everything I would do. He made me doubt my ability to do my job. He would ask me to do research, and then when I approached for clarification, he would say he didn’t tell me to do that. He would dictate how I supervised my team of 11 people and insisted on approving every request for vacation. Although I wrote out the performance appraisals for my team, he would not allow me to give the grades I thought were deserved. I was not allowed to put that anyone “exceeded expectations,” only “meets expectations,” even though I disagreed that some deserved...

I am a former employee of nine years of a nonprofit serving individuals with disabilities. I assisted developmentally delayed adults in their homes to become more independent in the community and their home.

The bullying began after some shift changes. At the same time, we got a new residential manager. My bully, an older woman, wanted things done her way and when she said. Since I worked in a different way, she didn't like me. I worked a 36-hour week by myself most of the time. I went to working with her on two of those days, a total of eight hours a week.

She also had a fellow employee who worked at the home who she was friends with. She would call her during our shifts to complain about me, saying I was lazy, did nothing, and played games with the ladies. (The reason: she did all the work. When I asked what I could do to help, she'd say "oh, you're fine, dear" in a sweet voice.) The fellow friend employee usually relieved me at 12am and would be less than kind or quiet and ignore...

I was a 33-year Commonwealth employee who was bullied and driven to suicidal ideation, panic attacks, and gastric problems. I would grind my teeth in stressful situations and cracked a molar. I spent a night in the hospital for stress-associated illness. I was prescribed anti anxiety and anti depressive meds and had a gastric ulcer. I spent time sobbing in the ladies room. I nearly was killed on the highway after taking too many anxiety meds prescribed to me because I just couldn't take the stress.

I wrote a book, published in 2015, related to my work. The new administration where I worked warned me not to write the book after previous administration gave me permission.

I was harassed with letters from my agency's lawyers sent to my house, threatened with termination, and had disciplinary letters placed in my file containing statements that weren't true. Every day I suffered some form of bullying and gaslighting. I incurred an industrial accident that was documented but not...

It all started when a new program manager was promoted to the position from an overnight staff position. I had worked at the residential program that housed DYS teenage boys for about three years as the clinical director of the program.

A vendor agency ran the program, but we got our referrals and directives from DYS. I enjoyed the job and was good at it. I had the respect of the other clinical staff in my DYS group meetings and the caseworkers who came to the program regularly.

As clinical director, I was responsible for one other clinical staff and for all therapy that occurred in the program: family, individual, and group. I did some staff training as well as supporting staff at times of crisis.

How it began
Things started changing when the new director started. He began to make connections with the staff. It quickly became clear that I was not someone he clicked with.

It started slow at first... inside jokes, undermining my decisions, and making fun of me in meetings. The staff...

DD worked as a bus driver for seniors.

Several staff members, including one supervisor, bullied her through name-calling, ignoring her when she asked questions directly, and pushing (she was pushed into a coat closet because she wasn't moving quickly enough).

"They treated me like I didn't exist and didn't matter," she explained.

The supervisor would use her position to intimidate. "When speaking to us, she would be aggressive and condescending," she said.

Some of the power moves involved screaming at employees for taking sick time. "She would yell at us if we called in sick. I called in once in a great while. I had 420 hours of sick time, but she would still make me feel guilty for using it. Her attitude was that no matter what, we needed to be there," explained DD.

The supervisor also withheld positive feedback. "My riders would send me thank you cards, yet I never saw one in the seven and a half years I worked there. They would ask me if I received their cards," she said.

...

I'm a 54-year old psychiatric RN day charge nurse who worked for the same employer for over 23 years. I had a perfect record on all my evaluations up until about two years ago, when my supervisor of many years resigned after management asked her to do unethical things.

The new young male supervisor sided with bullies and believed whatever they said. The bullies hated me because I would not be a part of their unscrupulous tactics. The new supervisor loved one of the young, pretty nurses. After she would leave his office, he would dance around me singing "out with the old and in with the new!" This nurse, the secretary, and another nurse would constantly ask me "what would you do if you lost your job?" and "don't you want to stay home with your new grandson?"

The harassment, ostracizing, and mind games came about swiftly. My schedule was changed from dayshift to 12-hour shifts. One of the main male bullies was moved to the dayshift. I was outnumbered by all the bullies at that...