684 JOURNAL OF LAW AND POLICY
of workplace bullying has prompted the development of various
definitions in an attempt to address the issue. For example, the
WBI defines workplace bullying as “the repeated, health-
harming mistreatment of one or more persons (Target) by one or
more perpetrators (supervisors or coworkers)” that can consist
of verbal abuse, threatening or humiliating conduct, interference
with work-related tasks, and even sabotage.^33 Similarly,
Professor Yamada defines workplace bullying as “the intentional
infliction of a hostile work environment upon an employee by a
coworker or coworkers, typically through a combination of
verbal and nonverbal behaviors.”^34 Others have characterized
workplace bullying as “persistent,”^35 “unreasonable,”^36 and
“malicious.”^37 These definitions have three unifying themes: (1)
the bullying activity is persistent and intentional; (2) the Target
suffers a combination of psychological, physical, and economic
harm as a result; and (3) the bullying activity creates an overall
hostile work environment.
Workplace bullying is distinguishable from general incivility
and status-based harassment.^38 Unlike general aggression or
incivility, which involve isolated instances of rudeness or crass
(^33) The WBI Definition of Workplace Bullying, WORKPLACE BULLYING
INST., http://www.workplacebullying.org/individuals/problem/definition/ (last
visited Apr. 5, 2013).
(^34) Yamada, Status-Blind Hostile Work Environment, supra note 27, at
481.
(^35) Pamela Lutgen-Sandvik, Water Smoothing Stones: Subordinate
Resistance to Workplace Bullying 1 (Aug. 2005) (unpublished Ph.D.
dissertation, Ariz. State Univ.), available at http://www.unm.edu/~plutgen/
Resistance%20to%20Workplace%20Bullying%20Lutgen-Sandvik%20Disserta
tion%202005.pdf.
(^36) WASH. STATE DEP’T OF LABOR & INDUS., WORKPLACE BULLYING AND
DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR: WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW, SHARP Report
87-2-2011, at 1 (Apr. 2011) [hereinafter WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO
KNOW], available at http://www.lni.wa.gov/Safety/Research/Files/
Bullying.pdf.
(^37) Lutgen-Sandvik, supra note 35, at 1.
(^38) See Lynn M. Andersson & Christine M. Pearson, Tit for Tat? The
Spiraling Effect of Incivility in the Workplace, 24 ACAD. MGMT. REV. 453,
466 (1999). Status-based harassment refers to harassment based on a person’s
protected status under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, such as
gender, race, or age. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2 (2011).