No Putting Up with Putdowns; Taking Workplace Bullies to Court
By Wendy N. Davis
Accounting manager Joan Frye was working at her job at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tenn., for only a few days when she began having problems with her new boss. “From the very beginning,” Frye says, “she would put me down. Anything I would do was never right.”
For almost two years, Frye endured what she perceived as hostile and undermining behavior—her boss holding meetings without her, declining to introduce her to other managers, and criticizing seemingly inconsequential decisions such as whether to deliver a message in person or via e-mail.
Frye, who transferred to another hospital owned by the same parent company to get away from her boss, ultimately left the company after she collapsed at work and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Like many disgruntled employees, she sought redress in court. In 2003, Frye sued in state court in Tennessee, claiming age discrimination (she was 54 when hired and her boss, Catherine Doyle, was 41) and intentional infliction of emotional distress. But the case was thrown out on her employer’s summary judgment motion. The trial court held that she hadn’t proven age discrimination and the conduct wasn’t severe enough to constitute emotional distress. Continue reading …
