Case Study # 12

Is this a case of bullying? Sara Branch, Sheryl Ramsay and Michelle Barker
Paul: Have you noticed how Jane keeps making those odd comments during meetings
whenever I am talking?
Denise: Yes, I had. At first, I thought she was being funny but now it seems to be
constant. What do you think her problem is?
Paul: I don’t know, but it is starting to bother me. She isn’t just making snide comments
anymore, she has recently started talking over me during meetings with clients
and ‘egging’ others on to make smart comments directed at me. I am starting to
really hate going to meetings I know Jane will be at or just being around her.
Then, the other day she came into my office and yelled at me because I hadn’t got
an assessment to her. I tried to explain it wasn’t due for another couple of days
and that she would have it, but all she could do was tell me how much work she
had to do and that I didn’t understand how busy she was. As if she is the only one
who is busy round here. When she left, she slammed the door with such force it
shook the whole office, or at least it felt like it did. I am starting to think Jane has
it in for me but I don’t know why. Plus, what can I do? Each thing she does may
seem minor on its own. I am not sure Andrew [their manager] will take any
notice. He’ll probably laugh and say ‘suck it up’ when I say Jane slammed my
door and made snide comments. It sort of looks like
I’m being petty, but I’m not – it really affects me badly.
As time went on, things did not improve between Jane and Paul. The snide comments continued,
with smart comments now coming increasingly from a number of other members of staff. A
couple of weeks later, Denise told Paul how Jane tried to ‘bad mouth’ him to her, and that she
thought Jane was criticizing him to other staff too. Then the messages started. Paul began
receiving abusive e-mails from Jane (accusing Paul of not doing his job and stating he was
useless). When Paul started receiving abusive texts as well as e-mails, he went to Andrew for
help. Andrew said he would have a chat with Jane. After that thing settled down a bit. At least
the e-mails and texts stopped, although tension between the two persisted.
Despite Paul trying to put things behind them and be pleasant, Jane would often ignore him.
Sometimes she gave Paul the feeling she was looking right through him as if he didn’t exist.
Then came the Facebook incident. Someone using Paul’s name posted extremely rude comments
and messages to several his friends. The only way Paul thinks it could have happened was that he
left his Facebook page open one day and someone used his profile to post the comments. Over
this time Paul’s health started to deteriorate; he wasn’t sleeping well, experienced headaches
regularly and was starting to display signs of panic attacks at work. Paul had reached a breaking
point. He simply couldn’t face going to work any longer. He took sick leave to consider his
options.
Questions
1- Do you have the full picture of what is going on in the workplace?
2- What else would help you to have a greater understanding of the case?

What other people in the workplace think:

Kate: Look, Jane can be difficult at times, but she gets thing done. Really, let’s face it –
we’ve all been carrying Paul for ages. Actually, I’m happy Jane is standing up to
him now because it’s what we have all wanted to do for some time now.
Marian: I know everybody around here seems to think Paul is useless and that Jane is
fantastic.
On the face of it, it looks that way, but Jane is only nice to you if she likes you. I
am happy I have somehow kept my head down and stayed on her good side. I am
not sure why she has started picking on Paul because we all used to get along
before things got really busy. I am not sure if I would call it bullying though. I
tried talking to Paul, but he just seems in such a bad place now, he is not making
sense
Andrew: As Paul’s boss I take his sick leave seriously. Up until recently, he was one of my
best staff members. I was even thinking of promoting him to team leader. I know
there seems to be tension between Paul and Jane, but Jane reassures me
everything is okay and, until Paul makes a formal complaint, my hands are tied. It
is hard to know which way to go with this type of stuff; in a way, you are
dammed if you do something and dammed if you do nothing.
Questions
1- Imagine you are a HR professional employed by this organization. You have been asked
to provide a development program for staff (in relation to the above scenario).
a- Where would you start?
b- What are the main issues you need to clarify before getting started?
c- Indicate the aims of such a program and outline the most important elements that
need to be addressed within the program.
d- d How would you evaluate such a program?