Workplace Bullying

Like most teenagers, Melbourne school leaver Brodie Panlock had big plans for the future: get a job, move out of home and save like crazy so she could travel overseas and eventually return home to study social work. By the summer of 2005, Brodie looked on track after scoring a full-time job at trendy Cafe Vamp in Hawthorn, in the city's inner east. With her friendly nature, compassionate personality and confident outlook, no-one was surprised she had landed a job in hospitality - but Brodie had no preparation for what was to come.

By 2006, Brodie had become the victim of relentless bullying at the hands of her workmates. For many months, the pretty 19 year old was subjected to a range of physical and psychological bullying that systematically broke her spirit. Day after day, she'd turn up to waitress at Cafe Vamp only to be treated with derision. She was spat at and gossiped about. Her male colleagues would call her "fat'', "ugly", "stupid" and "whore".

On several occasions, she was held down by staff and had fish sauce poured over her hair, clothes and into her bag. Other times, she was drenched in chocolate sauce. After a failed suicide attempt in May 2006, her colleagues found a new emotional button to push: "If you're going to do it, do it properly," one mocked.

By 2006, it had become too much for Brodie. On the night of September 20, she walked to a multistorey car park near her flat, made her way to the top and jumped. She died in hospital three days later. An investigation would later reveal the once chirpy teenager's mental torment was fuelled by the campaign of vicious bullying certain members of the Cafe Vamp staff had waged against her. "I have worked in the hospitality industry for 10 years, but I have never seen anything like what those four males did to Brodie," said former cafe employee Meghan Chester.


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On February 8 this year, Cafe Vamp manager Nicholas Smallwood, 26; waiter Rhys MacAlpine, 28; chef Gabriel Toomey, 23; and cafe owner Marc Luis Da Cruz, 43, were convicted and fined a total of $115,000 after pleading guilty to charges, brought by WorkSafe Victoria under the state's Occupational Health and Safety Act, of "failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of persons".

Da Cruz's company, MAP Foundation, which ran Cafe Vamp, was handed a $220,000 fine. Since bullying isn't a crime per se, the court could only impose financial penalties - little comfort for Brodie's family.

"We'll live with this for the rest of our lives," said her mother, Rae, "but they should have also been jailed to send a message so other young people won't be bullied and manipulated."

The case unleashed a torrent of calls to WorkSafe Victoria from employees complaining about bullying, and prompted the organisation to instigate prevention workshops around the state. But while it has dragged the ugly spectre of workplace bullying into the public eye, sadly, Brodie's case is not unique.

In April 2005, 38-year-old Christine Hodder - the first female staff member at NSW's Cowra ambulance station - committed suicide after lodging two formal complaints. She had endured six years of bullying. "The staff has constantly alienated and attacked my character and physical appearance since my arrival," she wrote before killing herself, leaving behind a husband and three-year-old daughter.

In October 2008, apprentice Alec Meikle, 16, who worked for a rail contractor in Bathurst, NSW, committed suicide after being terrorised by coworkers who set him on fire, tipped glue over him and threatened him with rape.

These deaths represent the tip of an iceberg that lurks beneath the surface of the "happy" Australian workplace, and costs the economy an estimated $13 billion a year due to decreased productivity, increased absenteeism and staff turnover. According to the US Workplace Bullying Institute, Australia falls in line with other Western countries, with nearly one in six people bullied at their place of employment. In professions where hierarchical structures lend themselves to bullying - like the military, police forces and fire brigades - the rate is even higher.

But despite the alarming statistics, workplace bullying continues mostly unchecked - often with terrible consequences.

"Bullying behaviour causes anxiety; stress and sleep disorders; weight loss or gain; lack of concentration; and sexual dysfunction," warns psychologist Evelyn M. Field, author of Bully Blocking At Work (Australian Academic Press, $29.95). Many victims exhibit signs of severe depression. For some, she adds, "it undermines their self-esteem to the point that they suffer irrevocable damage from which they never recover".

In Brodie's case, coroner Peter White found that she had been treated in an "extremely aggressive and intimidating" manner. He noted that on her last night alive, Brodie had felt an "unbearable level of humiliation" over her relationship with Smallwood, who she'd had the occasional fling with. They had sex at Brodie's unit that night, but when she begged him to stay, he got up and left. White said Brodie feared the episode would make her "the subject of further abuse and public ridicule by male colleagues".

Female staff at Cafe Vamp were appalled by the bullying and believed Brodie put up with it because she wanted to be accepted. At one point, Chester warned the bullies they'd have "blood on their hands" if they didn't stop.

Of course, Chester should not have had to step in, but like many small businesses, Cafe Vamp had no human resources component to protect Brodie's interests. "Most don't have an external policy around these types of issues, so there are no guidelines other than common sense," admits Jaye Radisich, CEO of the Council of Small Business of Australia. "Bullying is either brought to a head and resolved, or the staff member leaves."

A 2002 study reported that 75 per cent of targets of long-term bullying showed symptoms indicative of post-traumatic stress disorder, including 65 per cent where the bullying had ceased five years earlier.


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Leanne, 46, was bullied by a colleague while working at a medical services company, and is still in recovery.

"It goes around and around in your head," says Leanne, her voice quavering with emotion seven years on. "[The bully] constantly undermined me and I was made to look incompetent, or if I pulled up an employee, she would tell everyone in the office what a nightmare I was to work for. Her campaign was very successful and she turned the whole office against me."

Leanne's colleagues put a "beware of the dog" sign on her desk, called her names and routinely excluded her. "I felt like I was under constant siege, but it was the searing silences when I walked into the room, or hearing a group burst out laughing as I walked past them, that were so hard to bear," she says. "I became so paranoid and fearful, just walking into the office would make me feel physically sick. I couldn't eat, sleep or concentrate. I felt worthless and dead inside."

After two years, Leanne suffered a nervous breakdown. "I had always been an efficient and valued employee, now I was a total mess," she says, bitterly. "I became obsessed, replaying each incident in my head to prove I wasn't crazy, that I wasn't a bad person. I went on WorkCover because I became so depressed I couldn't raise myself out of bed; I withdrew from my partner and haven't worked since. I stopped socialising. I'm still in therapy and my case is yet to be settled."

While the bullying of Brodie and Leanne was overt, experts say subtle forms of intimidation are more common. These are the emotionally abusive attacks that are much harder to quantify. It's where bitchiness turns into bullying - the put-downs in front of colleagues; the spreading of malicious gossip; deliberately leaving victims off emails or not inviting them to crucial meetings; slowly stripping the victim of critical duties
and constantly setting them up to fail.

"It can be so subtle that the target will often question themselves if what they are experiencing is actually real," says Field. "That's when self-doubt creeps in and they are brainwashed into thinking that they are underperforming. Often there are no witnesses or proof, and if work colleagues know what is going on, they tend not to speak up for fear of becoming the bully's next target."

Statistics show that most workplace bullies are male - due to the fact they're more often in management roles and will intimidate both men and women - but research shows women tend to bully other women.

"Men form boys' clubs and often support other men whether they are right or wrong," says Field, "whereas women turn against each other using subtle intimidation. They may even feel the need to bully coworkers to get ahead. This often takes the form of groups of women picking on an individual. This behaviour is described as 'mobbing'."

But according to psychologist Dr Carlo Caponecchia, from the University of New South Wales, there's a misconception that targets of bullying are passive victims. "Often they are successful, high-performing employees who are smart, attractive and great at their jobs," he says.

"People use bullying behaviour to dominate someone they perceive as more competent than themselves. But the target's confidence is ripped to shreds because they've been high performers for years, and then suddenly they're fighting for their professional lives."

While in most cases victims simply leave, some feel compelled to stay and prove themselves, while others become too weakened to walk away.

"They fall into a learned helplessness scenario," explains Field. There are external considerations, too, says Dr Caponecchia. "It's often not as easy as walking away. In the current economic climate; if you work in a rural area; are a young worker with little experience; an older worker who may find it difficult to get a job; or you have a highly specialised skill set, you may feel like you don't have any other option but to stay."

This is where HR departments are supposed to step in, but sometimes don't. "Often bullying gets put in the too-hard basket, or the bully is a high-performing person who brings a lot of money into the organisation," explains Field. "Or, worse, the HR team - knowing the stigma bullying brings to a company - goes into damage control to save the company's reputation; so, rather than dealing with the problem, the target is the one who is made to feel they have an issue."

It's a position Melinda, 36, found herself in when she was bullied by Shannon while working at an agriculture company in 2008.

"My bully was the MD's executive assistant and dominated the entire management floor," says Melinda. "From the moment I walked in she hated me. It was as if I'd been put into the deep freeze without even getting a chance because, once Shannon made it clear she wasn't happy about me being there, people felt uncomfortable challenging her."

Melinda says she was subjected to an insidious mobbing. "Shannon deliberately tried to make me look incompetent by messing up meetings and blaming me," she says. "I'd walk into the kitchen and
her gang would suddenly shut up. At first I thought it was just an unfriendly office, but as the months went on I felt like I was being targeted. It caused so much stress in my life, I felt like I was going crazy. When I told my HR manager, I was told Shannon had been there for 10 years and it was just the office culture. She said, 'Everyone knows [Shannon] can be a bitch, sometimes that's just the way it is.' After a year, Melinda left.

"My self-confidence," she says, quietly, "was shot to pieces."

It doesn't help that workplace bullying cases are difficult to prosecute. Stan Krpan, acting executive director of WorkSafe Victoria, admits only a handful of cases are taken to court.

"Unless it is physical abuse, often it's difficult to prove," he states. Even so, the call by Brodie's parents for laws to allow the jailing of bullies is attracting support. Almost 7000 people have joined the Justice for Brodie Panlock Facebook group, which is calling for legislation to make mental and emotional abuse at work as criminal as physical abuse.

Campaign founder Julia Wallace, 30, from the Gold Coast, felt compelled to act after hearing about Brodie's case. "As a mother, seeing Brodie's devastated mum on the courthouse steps after the hearing had me in a fit of tears," she recalls. "It broke my heart, and I could relate to how painful bullying can be. My siblings treated me as the family's punching bag and it took me years to come to terms with what happened to me."

Watching those who bullied Brodie leaving court as free men made Julia angry. "I wanted to know why they were only fined, not jailed. What happened to Brodie was pure evil and wrong on every level. Something has to change."

But any law reform is likely to be a long way off. "We're still at awareness stage as it is a developing issue," says Dr Caponecchia.

"We need coordinated action, but the government has got to champion it. A national day against workplace bullying could be a focal point, or an ombudsman who investigates claims."

In the meantime, Brodie's parents are considering taking civil action against her tormenters. "It's been three and a half years, and if it takes another three and a half years to get some real justice ... we can say we've done as much as we possibly can," says Brodie's father, Damien. The family still visits Brodie "at the cemetery every week or so to change the flowers and have a chat. She's in a beautiful corner surrounded by trees. We just sit there and wonder why this happened."

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