The phenomenon of bullying is longstanding in schools and communities. With respect to workplace bullying, approximately 60 million U.S. employees have been affected in some way by it. Unfortunately, firefighters who engage in bullying likely excuse the behavior as a tradition, because they went through it when they were new or because it was glorified in some movie or TV show.
Workplace bullying isn’t an isolated misunderstanding. It’s targeted, ongoing mistreatment that often is abusive but, regrettably, not always illegal. Because workplace bullying causes physical and psychological harm, while simultaneously damaging the organization and placing it in legal peril, it’s important for the fire service at all levels to understand what bullying is and why it must be prevented.
Sadly, bullying tends to be top-down (61 percent of bullies outrank their targets). Too often, those who are in a position to stop bullying participate in it. When the behavior persists and becomes personal against a target, particularly one who is within a legally protected class, it no longer can be considered unintentional or innocent. By allowing relatively isolated incidents to go unchecked, the leader actually plays a key role in supporting, rather than stopping, workplace bullying.
The unfortunate reality is that when a bullying complaint is raised, leaders and others often view the complaint as a betrayal. In fact, 72 percent of employers don’t correct or prevent bullying after it’s reported. Instead of consideration of the complaint being about decency and an unbiased application of policy, it becomes a matter of loyalty. This loyalty allows leaders and followers alike to overlook the behavior and spin the narrative to their favor. This very much can be manifested in a diminish/deflect/defend/deny approach toward the problem behavior while simultaneously projecting the target as the problem. These misguided acts of loyalty lend themselves more to an escalation than to a resolution.
Also, there is strong connection between how targets are treated when they make their first complaint to a supervisor and whether they go outside of the organization to seek redress of their concerns, either by filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or a lawsuit.
Despite the findings that 40 percent of targets suffered adverse health consequences from bullying, the reality is that bullying regularly is analyzed and addressed primarily through a legal lens. Too often, health effects take a back seat, and determinations are made primarily based on whether the behavior met the threshold of illegal harassment. This can create a toxic environment, with the potential for significant adverse effects on employees and the organization alike.
Perhaps most disturbing is the high percentage of bullies (82 percent) who intended to do harm. Combining this malice of forethought with the negative health effects—including suicidal ideations—it’s clear that leader inaction toward and, at times, participation in bullying create grave concerns within the fire service. (In 65 percent of cases that were studied, the resolution of a bullying complaint led to the target of the bullying losing the position that he/she held when the complaint was made.)
The fire service has taken great strides in reducing traumatic line-of-duty deaths. Similarly, we are combating the challenges of fire service-induced cancer. Given the health effects that are attributed to bullying, a case could be made that each target who is felled by workplace bullying suffered a line-of-duty injury. So, just as the fire service endeavors to improve safety on scene, we must strive with the same vigor to improve safety and health elsewhere. The infrastructure is in place. We need to reach a tipping point wherein key stakeholders buy in. Allowing this reprehensible behavior to continue unabated would be an affront to everything that being a public servant stands for.
Information on workplace bullying can be found at workplacebullying.org.
John R. Brophy
Captain (Ret.) John R. Brophy, MSHS, FACPE has more than 39 years in the fire service as a firefighter, engineer, company officer and instructor. He has conducted training programs in local, regional, national and international venues on both fire and EMS topics. Brophy held administrative, operations and communications leadership positions in EMS. He is the author of numerous trade-journal articles and books on a variety of leadership topics. Brophy is the recipient of three firefighter of the year awards, a regional instructor of the year award, and a number of other meritorious and service awards in fire and EMS as well as in the military, where he served as a U.S. Navy Corpsman.
