THE INTEGRATION OF BANKING AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS: THE NEED FOR REGULATORY REFORM

688 JOURNAL OF LAW AND POLICY

bullying can impose long- and short-term costs on employers
resulting from lost productivity and low morale in the
organization.

C. Current Legal Remedies to Address Workplace Bullying

Currently, American common law does not recognize a tort
of workplace bullying, and no state or federal statute directly
addresses the issue either.^61 Existing common law and statutory
remedies are insufficient to address the particular nature of
workplace bullying.^62 For example, under Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, it is unlawful for an employer to
discriminate against or harass any individual because of his or
her protected status, such as race, religion, sex, or national
origin.^63 Targets of workplace bullying, however, could be
subjected to a status-blind, “equal-opportunity abusive work
environment.”^64 In fact, workplace bullying frequently includes
same-sex and same-race harassment.^65 Research has shown that

productivity and increased employee attrition. The survey revealed that
“[t]wenty-eight percent lost work time avoiding the [bully], fifty-three percent
lost work time worrying about [a past] incident or future interactions with the
[bully]... forty-three percent contemplated changing jobs to avoid the
[bully], and twelve percent actually changed jobs... .” Yamada, Status-
Blind Hostile Work Environment, supra note 27, at 484 (quoting Christine M.
Pearson, Incivility and Aggression at Work: Executive Summary (July 1998)
(unpublished ms.)). Similarly, another survey showed that twenty-two percent
“lost work time avoiding the [bully],” twenty-four percent “lost work time
worrying about incidents and future interactions,” and thirty-five percent
“changed jobs to avoid the [bully].” See Fisher-Blando, supra note 56, at
132.

(^61) See Yamada, Status-Blind Hostile Work Environment, supra note 27,
at 484.
(^62) Other scholars have also argued that statutory and common law
remedies are inadequate to address workplace bullying. See, e.g., Michael E.
Chaplin, Workplace Bullying: The Problem and the Cure, 12 U. PA. J. BUS.
L. 437 (2010); Yamada, Status-Blind Hostile Work Environment, supra note
27.
(^63) See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a) (2011).
(^64) Yamada, Status-Blind Hostile Work Environment, supra note 27, at
508.
(^65) See Namie, Escalated Incivility, supra note 42, at 2.