Lobbying Legislators to pass a "Workplace Bullying" Bill

Re: Bill A673 establishing the Healthy Workplace Act.

Dear Honorable Assemblyman/woman:

For four years I have withstood an extremely hostile environment in my workplace enduring constant badgering, alienation, harassment, intimidation, stalking, criticism, constant rejection of work, disciplinary action, suspensions and finally 3 consecutive failed performance evaluations from my supervisor supported by her upper management. This occurred at a high profile division of the NJ Department of Agriculture. On three occasions since 2007, I have needed to be out on extended medical leave after being subjected to chronic psychological violence by my supervisor, a very sadistic workplace bully.

The psychological violence really began when I first took the position at the NJDA in 1999. Prior to this, I was with the NJDEP Site Remediation Program for 8 months and received a “Commendable PAR” while carrying a full caseload of high priority ISRA projects. Before that I was in the private sector of the environmental industry for 8 years as an award-winning ecologist and environmental scientist. However when the position opened with the NJDA at the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC) resulting from the passing of the public Open Space referendum in 1998, I left the NJDEP for the SADC to be able to “grow with an exciting new farmland preservation program”. Apparently my enthusiasm and new ideas to streamline and make the program more efficient, although they were solicited from the then executive director, were not taken well by the "Old Guard" (a long time deputy director and his close pal and neighbor, a domineering confidential secretary who laid claim to the program and its group dynamic and were heard to say "who does she think she is? We'll put an end to this!!) Subsequently, I was failed on my first two performance evaluations and although I "disagreed" on record and filed grievances with the union, it was to no avail and it became increasingly obvious that I was being deliberately railroaded.

However, under a different supervisor for the next four years, a very fair minded and relatively new Program Manager, I did extremely well and performed many various job responsibilities without issue although he told me on several occasions that he was “on the blacklist” because he “refused to set anyone up to fail”. I did well under this supervisor until 2005 when a new executive director came aboard up from one of the counties and took up with the “Old Guard” whom she felt she needed to accommodate her “learning curve” as she grabbed the reins of the program. Obviously the deputy director and his secretary (who was promoted to head secretary under the new executive) were invaluable to her to run the shop and be technical backup. I've been told that my executive director had inquired of Human Resources staff back in 2006 what would the required steps be to have me removed and then over the next three years, deliberately set out to discredit me and destroy my professional career by arbitrarily failing me on my performance evaluations. She enlisted the assistance of an attorney from the DAG’s office to represent them against my Civil Rights and EEOC complaints. This same DAG attorney also was tasked with reviewing my subsequent “reasonable accommodation request” which I’ve felt was a conflict of interest and allowed my executive director access to my personal medical records. I was placed under the charge of the young woman who was hired in late 2005 as a high ranking manager but whose previous experience was in the private sector of construction and demolition. As time went on, depression, insomnia, and other ailments have led to psychiatric injury, a condition brought on by the repeated trauma of being bullied. Rather than perceive me as a valuable state resource, my supervisor set about inundating me with hostile emails and compiling voluminous amounts of documents to “prove” that I could not perform according to my job description with the intent of having me removed. This is an egregious account of state waste and abuse.

So it REALLY got bad for me under that "good ole girl" regime when the executive director hired a personal friend of hers as the new Chief of Acquisition who came at me for four years like a mad Doberman. Over the last four years I have accumulated numerous emails and documents that are evidence that I have been singled out for hostile treatment, treated differently from other coworkers with similar roles, issued changing demands, shifting goalposts (setting me up to unsuccessfully complete assignments and projects) among many other tactics.

This past summer I was out again on medical leave for three months of intensive outpatient treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among other psychiatric disorders. I have sought legal assistance but have been told that workplace bullying is NOT ILLEGAL in New Jersey. If bullies know they can get away with this behavior or the employer does nothing to curb these actions, the bully will become more empowered to up the ante and increase the level of psychological violence in the workplace. This kind of activity should NOT be allowed in the workplaces of New Jersey. This type of psychological violence is especially egregious in state government where a workplace bully, especially one in a management position, will abuse extensive amounts of state time and resources paid for with tax payer's hard earned dollars. Research places workplace bullies in the same category as pedophiles, rapists, and spousal abusers. They see their “targets” as something to be exploited for their needs.

If you have already sponsored or co-sponsored this Bill, I humbly thank you. If you have not yet addressed this issue, I implore you to please consider co-sponsoring the “Healthy Workplace Bill” A673 so that this kind of activity, so rampant in state and local government, may be curtailed.If this Bill is passed and adhered to, there will be no financial burden on employers. This bill, in fact, will be sure to increase the employer’s bottom-line because the non-productive employees will have to actually ‘do their jobs!’ instead of wasting the employer’s valuable time bullying the ‘productive’ employee/s and wasting more of the employer’s time gossiping about their triumphs: Of which, is theft! There would be less absenteeism, less workmen’s compensation claims, that places a burden on the employers; less unemployment claims that places a burden on the State; less social security claims that places a burden on the Federal Government. If Bullies are demoted or terminated on a company’s ‘Zero Tolerance List', there would be no reason for litigation; and eventually, we would have a “Healthy Workplace!”

I am most interested to know what your feelings are on this topic and this indispensable Bill. I would appreciate hearing from you on this issue. The following legislators have already either sponsored or cosponsored the Bill:

Greenstein, Linda R. as Primary Sponsor
Oliver, Sheila Y. as Primary Sponsor
Vainieri Huttle, Valerie as Primary Sponsor
Handlin, Amy H. as Co-Sponsor
Rodriguez, Caridad as Co-Sponsor
Angelini, Mary Pat as Co-Sponsor
DeAngelo, Wayne P. as Co-Sponsor
Giblin, Thomas P. as Co-Sponsor
Spencer, L. Grace as Co-Sponsor
Diegnan, Patrick J., Jr. as Co-Sponsor
Thompson, Samuel D. as Co-Sponsor
Coutinho, Albert as Co-Sponsor
Chivukula, Upendra J. as Co-Sponsor
Caputo, Ralph R. as Co-Sponsor
Wagner, Connie as Co-Sponsor
Jasey, Mila M. as Co-Sponsor
Wisniewski, John S. as Co-Sponsor
Prieto, Vincent as Co-Sponsor
Holzapfel, James W. as Co-Sponsor
Wolfe, David W. as Co-Sponsor
Tucker, Cleopatra G. as Co-Sponsor

I appreciate your time and attention to this most important issue. I look forward to your considerate response.

Sincerely,

(Constituent)

District #15

With excerpts from Healthy Workplace Advocates (http://www.bullyfreeworkplace.org/id5.html)

and NJBullyBusters:NJ Healthy Workplace