As reported by Law.com, eleven states are considering legislation that would empower employees who’ve been subjected to abusive bully bosses to sue those bosses for the damages that result. The article reports that the laws would give “victims of abuse like taunting and yelling the right to sue for damages.” The states where such laws are pending are Connecticut, Hawaii, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon and Washington.

The Strategic Lawyer thinks this is a problem. As proof, it quotes a statistic from a survey in the Law.com article that 44% of employees think that their boss is abusive. New Jersey Employment Law Blog mentions the same statistic and says simply “It’s hard to tell whether it says more about the bosses or the employees.” Well, yes, exactly! Frankly, having worked for my share of abusive and toxic bosses, I’d be more inclined to believe that 44% statistic merely supports the need for such legislation.

But expect the lawyers for management to complain loudly - lawyers like Stephen J. Hirschfeld of Employment Law Alliance. His comment will sound familiar to readers of this blog: “If they don’t get a handle on this in a proactive way, the legislatures and courts will take over. I don’t happen to believe that’s in America’s best interest. It’ll open the floodgates to litigation.”

Slippery slope! Beware! Maybe the floodgates should be opened.

Technorati Tags: bullying at work, toxic boss, employment law, south carolina