YOU’LL NEED MORE THAN A VOLTAGE CONVERTER: PLUGGING EUROPEAN WORKPLACE BULLYING LAWS INTO THE AMERICAN JURISPRUDENTIAL OUTLET

Source: (-0001) Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law

Section III highlights the ways in which Europe handles bullying within its legal framework, emphasizing the importance of alternative dispute resolution(ADR) in the cultures in which anti-bullying laws have established a foothold…The Targets of Anti-Bullying Legislation. Before one can properly discuss the prudence of employment bullying legislation or recommend a process by which a nation should implement such legislation, one must first understand what employment bullying is and what it is not…A Brief Introduction to Alternative Dispute Resolution. Alternative dispute resolution(ADR) is a method by which disputants resolve their conflicts outside the courtroom through the means of settlement negotiations, facilitation,mediation,fact-finding,mini-trials,and arbitration. …The Healthy Workplace Bill and What it Lacks Professor David Yamada, the academic father of anti-bullying legislation in America,has crafted a model Healthy Workplace Bill to address the phenomenon of workplace bullying …Legislative Findings The Legislature finds that: .the social and economic well-being of the State is dependent upon healthy and productive employees; . surveys and studies have documented between 16 and 21 percent of employees directly experience health-endangering workplace bullying,abuse and harassment,and that this behavior is four times more prevalent than sexual harassment alone; . surveys and studies have documented that abusive work environments can have serious and even devastating effects on tageted employees, including feelings of shame and humiliation,stress,loss of sleep,severe anxiety,depression,post-traumatic stress disorder,suicidal tendencies,reduced immunity to infection,stress-related gastrointestinal disorders,hypertension and pathophysiologic changes that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. .surveys and studies have documented that abusive work environments can have serious consequences for employers,including reduced employee productivty and morale,higher turnover and absenteeism rates,and significant increases in medical and workers’ compensation claims; . unless mistreatwd employees have been subjected to abusive treatment at work on the basis of race,color,national origin or age, they are unlikely to have legal recourse to redress such treatment; .legal protection from abusive work environments should not be limited to behavior grounded in protected class status as that provided for under employment discrimination statutes;and,.existing workers’ compensation plans and common-law tort actions are inadequate to discourage this behavior or to provide adequate redress to employees who have been harmed by abusive work environments.