IS LITIGATION YOUR FINAL ANSWER? 681
in her career, her supervisor denied the request.^16 In a suicide
note to her best friend, Marlene wrote that the new director had
made her life “utterly unbearable,”^17 and she could no longer
suffer the abuse and humiliation.^18
Unfortunately, Marlene’s experience with her supervisor is
not atypical of “Targets”^19 of workplace bullying. Targets often
suffer psychological, emotional, and physical harm as a result of
the abuse.^20 For example, Targets can suffer from severe
psychological harm akin to posttraumatic stress disorder^21 and, in
a number of cases, may even resort to suicide.^22 A survey
conducted by the Workplace Bullying Institute (“WBI”) in 2012
found that eighty percent of respondents experienced anxiety
from workplace bullying, and forty-nine percent reported being
diagnosed with clinical depression.^23 Moreover, twenty-nine
percent of respondents considered suicide, and sixteen percent
had an actual plan to commit it.^24 Despite the psychological and
physical toll that workplace bullying has on American workers,
currently there is no state or federal law that adequately
addresses the phenomenon and protects workers against it.^25 The
(^16) See Hearing 2008, supra note 9.
(^17) Hearing 2010, supra note 3; Cart & La Ganga, supra note 4.
(^18) OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GEN., supra note 1, at 1.
(^19) Gary and Ruth Namie, the leading researchers of workplace bullying
and author of several books on the subject, use the word “Target” instead of
“victim” out of respect for the affected individuals. See GARY NAMIE &
RUTH NAMIE, BULLYPROOF YOURSELF AT WORK! 10–12 (1999) [hereinafter
NAMIE & NAMIE, BULLYPROOF YOURSELF].
(^20) For further discussion regarding the harmful effects of workplace
bullying, see infra Part II.
(^21) See Heinz Leymann & Annelie Gustafsson, Mobbing at Work and the
Development of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders, 5 EUR. J. WORK &
ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOL. 251, 252–54 (1996).
(^22) The Toll of Workplace Bullying on Employee Health: WBI Survey,
WORKPLACE BULLYING INST. (Aug. 12, 2009), http://www.workplace
bullying.org/2012/08/09/2012-d/.
(^23) Id.
(^24) Id.
(^25) Many European countries have passed anti-workplace-bullying
legislation. See Susan Harthill, Bullying in the Workplace: Lessons from the
United Kingdom, 17 MINN. J. INT’L L. 247, 263–66 (2008) (discussing anti-