BellaOnline Forums Career Career Training Dealing with verbal abuse

Your employer has the responsibility to ensure that you work in an environment safe from harm. Abuse, whether it's physical or verbal is absolutely inacceptable. While we hope that it never happens to you, knowing how to recognize and deal with verbal abuse is important.

Check out this week's article on dealing with verbal abuse.
Dealing with Verbal Abuse in the Workplace

Have you ever had to deal with or seen anyone victimized by verbal abuse at work? How did your company handle it?

I work in a corporate environment where at least 1 of the executives is easily agitated and on a daily basis will yell at employees, use profanity profusely in meetings while he's yelling at employees, is completely disrespectful to everyone, and on and on and on. Even if I wanted to complain, we don't have an HR department, so nothing really to do except interview at a different company.

Sandra,
I'm so sorry to hear about this. That's an excellent point, sometimes in small companies without an HR person/department or even small companies with an unprofessional HR person - it can be a nightmare enforcing your rights as an employee.

I've heard of people that go to HR and it's the same as going to the enemy. The HR person knows that supervisor is doing things wrong, but continues to support them because they're friends or even worse, rock the boat (and lose their own job).

I hate to say it, but sometimes the only option is to find a position elsewhere - which is admittedly very difficult in an economy with 9.6% unemployment. Or contact a lawyer, if the complaint warrants it.

Dianne,

I have a question about this that hopefully you can advise me on. I have had to deal with an abusive coworker for quite some time now. she is not my boss but she likes to think she is. she is your typical bully. she has called me and other coworkers stupid to our faces. I surprised her by standing up and saying "excuse me? dont ever talk to me like that again."

while she has not called me anymore names, she will pick fights or start disputes over work stuff and then run off and play the victim and tell everyone what a monster I am. at one point she even had a phase where she liked to throw things. she never threw anything directly at anyone but she did break a couple things which she told our manager was just an accident then cried and offered to pay for it.

4 people, including myself have reported her actions and words to management. they refuse to do anything about it because they "never heard or saw any of it but will monitor the situation." my manager told me I could tell HR which makes me believe my manager is afraid of her as well. I would tell HR, but she has managed to become friends with some people in HR and I am concern that this could backfire on me. she tells people WE bully HER.

what I want to do is set a small hidden camera on my desk, so I can have proof of her actions and the things she will say. it will not be a I said/ she said situation then, but a look at the proof situation. I know my manager would say not to bring in a camera to record, but my contract never said a camera was forbidden on company property.

is this an ill-advised idea?