Bullying and Corporate Psychopaths at Work by Clive Boddy at TEDxHanzeUniversity

There are many great TED Talks on bullying in the workplace, here is one by English Professor Clive Boddy, based on his research findings looking at the link between Corporate Psychopaths and bullying, in Australian and the UK workplace.
 

 
Characteristics of Bullies:
Enjoy hurting others, cruel, selfish, parasitic, Machiavellian, psychopathic, callous, disrespectful, abusive, lacking in empathy remorse or guilt, and good at political networking skills.

'Corporate Psychopaths are those people who go into organisational and corporate positions rather than a criminal career.'

'Psychologists have slowly come to realised that those from better socio-economic background, perhaps with a good education and good family backgrounds, have worked out early that it's far easier to get the power, prestige and money that they want from a Corporate career, than from a criminal career.'

'Psychopaths have absolutely no conscious'
 
2008 Study revealed:

AUSTRALIA
* 1% of people (Corporate Psychopaths) accounted for the presence of at least 26% of all bullying by Australian mangers (from study sample of 346)
* Under normal managers, employees encountered bullying 9x per year
* Under Corporate Psychopaths, employees encountered bullying 64x per year

UK
* Found more bullying and more Psychopaths in the UK.* 1% of people (Corporate Psychopaths) accounted for the presence of at least 36% of all bullying by Australian mangers
* Under normal managers, employees encountered bullying 13x per year
* Under Corporate Psychopaths, employees encountered bullying 84x per year
 
Link between Corporate Psychopaths and Bullying

WHY DOES BULLYING OCCUR IN THE FIRST PLACE?

* Psychopaths bully as it's predatory, they enjoy doing it, they like to hurt people and damage their careers.
* 'Instrumental Bullying' -  to create confusion and chaos around them, enables them to form their own agenda to promote themselves, creating a smoke screen so they can get on with their agenda. This explains why Psychopaths get promoted over others, as they are manipulators.
*Linking at an organisational level eg: Enron, was reported to have a culture of bullying, of staff, agencies, suppliers, to keep them all in check to perpetuate the fraud. The same culture was found in banking institutions during the Global Financial Crisis, don't ask questions or you'll get into trouble' which covers up fraud.


Further reading: The Implications of Corporate Psychopaths for Business And Society: An  Initial Examination And A Call To Arms

Prof Clive Boddy is a Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at Middlesex University in England. For the past seven years, he has studied the evidence and effects of toxic leadership, and in particular the influence of the presence of corporate psychopaths on various workplace outcomes, including on levels of conflict and bullying at work.

Horror in UK Hospital as Bully Nurses are 'struck off' after worst hospital scandals in living memory!

The bullies who will never nurse patients again: Pair who ruled A&E unit at scandal-hit Stafford hospital 'with fear' and covered up neglect are struck off

• Sharon Turner and Tracy White falsified A&E discharge times
• They wanted to hit target for patients to be dealt with in four hours
• Hearing told some racist staff even forced black patients to wait longer

Sharon Turner, left, and Tracy White, right, falsified Accident and Emergency discharge times to avoid missing a government goal for patients to be dealt with within four hours. A string of allegations was found proved including Turner instructing nurses to ‘lie’ about waiting times in A&E and saying she planned to make another nurse’s life ‘hell and get rid of him in six months’.

Two senior nurses at the centre of one of the worst hospital scandals in living memory have been struck off.
Sharon Turner, 48, and Tracy White, 52, stood accused of ruling the A&E unit at Mid Staffordshire ‘with fear’ by bullying other nurses into covering-up the appalling neglect of patients.
They are the first two nurses from the trust to be struck off. Up to 1,200 patients are feared to have died there unnecessarily between 2005 and 2009.

 

 

Disciplined: Tracy White, left, and Sharon Turner, right, faked patient records to meet targets at scandal-hit Stafford Hospital. Today, they were struck off 

This year a damning report into the scandal concluded that ‘appalling and unnecessary suffering’ was inflicted on hundreds of patients who were left ‘unwashed, unfed and without fluids’.
But until now, not a single doctor or nurse had been struck off or even lost their job over the failings, to the dismay of grieving families.

More...

• Whitehall's straight talk: Civil servants told to stop using jargon that confuses people about what the Government are doing

Yesterday the Nursing and Midwifery Council banned the two nurses from ever practising again for undermining the public’s faith in the profession.
The panel ruled they had conspired to fiddle the figures on waiting times ‘with sheer dishonesty’ and had ‘coerced and frightened’ other more junior nurses to do the same.

Horrific: Up to 1,200 people died unnecessarily at the 'horror hospital' as managers put benchmarks above patient care

Mrs Turner, who lives in Cannock, Staffordshire, admitted to the three-strong panel she had once said she ‘did not give a flying f***’ about one of her patients.
When told by other staff that a patient had requested something, she said: ‘They want to get f****** real’, the panel heard.
Mrs Turner, who qualified as a nurse in 1993, also allegedly branded Asian junior doctors ‘suicide bombers’ and ‘Osama’s mate’, in a reference to the late Al Qaeda leader.
The former ward sister, who worked in the A&E department between 2003 and 2009, also vowed to make one male nurse’s life ‘living hell’ leading him to take an overdose – which he survived.
Mrs White, who has been a registered nurse since 1992, bullied staff into lying about the length of times patients waited in A&E to meet the Government’s maximum four-hour target.
Astonishingly she is still working at the hospital and since leaving the A&E unit in 2009 had been promoted to one of the most senior management positions.
She is currently clinical site manager – in charge of allocating patients to beds – on a salary of up to £47,000, about £10,000 more than her previous nursing role.

Whistleblower: Helene Donnelly said Sister Turner - along with Sister White - would demand junior nurses falsify the times recorded for when patients were discharged

Whistleblowing nurse Helene Donnelly revealed Sister Turner – along  with Sister White – would demand junior nurses falsify the times recorded for when patients were discharged. She recalled: ‘They would frequently lie about discharge times, and pressurise members of staff to lie. They would speak nastily and swear at people who did not change the times, or would change the times themselves.
‘The drive for targets was obviously a huge thing at the time. We were told that jobs might be on the line if we didn’t do it.’
Stephen Redmond, who chaired the hearing at the Old Bailey, told the two nurses that they had failed to put patients and their care first.
‘Instead you made the achieving of statistical targets, by honest or dishonest means, your primary aim. This was not a one-off failing, rather it was at the heart of the way you worked over a sustained period.’
He said they had resorted to ‘sheer dishonesty’ by altering paperwork and said they had ‘coerced and frightened other, often junior, members of staff into doing the same. You shouted and swore at them if they did not comply when you should have been setting an example.’
Julie Bailey, who helped expose the appalling neglect at Mid Staffordshire following the death of her mother in 2007, said: ‘This is the start of accountability in the NHS. We’re all very pleased at the outcomes. But there is clear evidence these nurses should have been suspended long ago by the trust.’
She also said it was ‘frightening’ that despite being struck off, the pair could still work in hospitals as healthcare assistants.
The cases began in March but had been repeatedly adjourned and had only begun considering evidence against the pair this week.
Another five nurses from Mid Staffordshire are having their cases considered by the NMC including the former chief nurse, Jan Harry.
Maggie Oldham, chief executive at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘Tracy White is still employed by the trust. We will need to take some time to consider the Nursing and Midwifery Council panel’s findings.’
The trust said Mrs Turner had stopped working for it in 2009.

SHE MADE THOSE IN PAIN WAIT

Among the most repellent examples of the behaviour of Tracy White was her lack of care and respect for an elderly woman in her final 24 hours.
She reprimanded the seriously ill patient by calling her a ‘naughty little monkey’ for not taking her laxatives, and refused to help lift her from a wheelchair to a bed, saying: ‘I’m not doing this. I’m not hurting my back.’
Whistleblowing nurse Helene Donnelly said the woman, who died the next day from a pulmonary oedema, or fluid on the lungs, had been given ‘a very uncared-for and undignified last 24 hours’. Another patient, who arrived at A&E suffering from bleeding after having an abortion, was refused immediate treatment by Sister White, who said: ‘She can wait, if you can do that to your baby.’
The whistleblower also claimed: ‘Sister White would deliberately make patients wait. Black patients were being made to wait.’
When junior nurse Mrs Donnelly was scathingly told off by another manager for faking a discharge time, she said she looked at the paperwork and recognised White’s handwriting.
But the senior nurse did not come forward to admit the forgery and was later promoted to her current role as clinical site manager.

FIGURE OF FEAR FOR HER STAFF

On the wards, Sharon Turner sent waves of fear through junior staff afraid to challenge her expletive-ridden diktats.
When one bullied male nurse took an overdose in despair, she said he ‘should have taken a few more and done the job properly’.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council was told Sister Turner had vowed to ‘make his life hell and get rid of him in six months’ and ‘drive him to drink’ so that ‘he would be out of here’.
When a colleague was taken to hospital with  a head injury, the mother of two is said to have told staff: ‘I don’t care if she lives or dies.’
Asian junior doctors had to put up with appalling racist abuse from the senior nurse.
She asked one, ‘What have you got in your rucksack doctor, is it a bomb?’ and referred to others as ‘him in the turban’ and ‘her with the yashmak [veil]’.

source

UK - Health Worker Bullied by NHS for asking colleagues to consider abortion's impact gets her job back

A health worker who faced the sack after giving an NHS colleague a booklet about the potential dangers of abortion has been allowed to return to work.

Margaret Forrester, 39, claimed to have been ‘bullied’ and ‘treated like a criminal’ for expressing her religious views, but said yesterday that she has now been offered a better job at the same NHS trust.

Miss Forrester, claims she was suspended in November last year after she handed the £4 pro-life booklet called Forsaken – published by a charity – to her colleague. It detailed the physical and psychological trauma experienced by five women from Taunton, Somerset, who terminated their pregnancies.

She said she offered it to a family planning worker during a private conversation because she felt the NHS did not give enough information about the potential risks of abortion.

The mental health worker, who has been employed by the NHS for six years, said there was no sign her colleague, with whom she had discussed abortion, was offended by the booklet or by their conversation.

'Treated like a criminal': Margaret Forrester says she has now been offered a better job by the NHS

But a few days later her manager told her she was being sent home on ‘special leave with full pay’. She was ordered not to see any patients and to stay away from all NHS sites while the trust investigated.

Later, she was told she had not been suspended and could return to work, but claimed she was not allowed to do her normal job. Instead she was put on other duties, which she found ‘bullying and offensive’, adding: ‘I felt physically sickened by their bullying.’

She was eventually signed off on sick leave and has not been back to the health centre since.

Miss Forrester, who worked at the Central and North West London Mental Health Trust, in Camden, attended an internal disciplinary hearing last month where she was accused of ‘distributing materials some people may find offensive’.

Last night a spokesman for the trust said Miss Forrester had been warned not to distribute the ‘offensive’ material or anything similar again, but confirmed she had been offered a new role within the trust.

Offensive? Margaret Forrester said she offered the booklet - Forsaken - to a family planning worker during a private conversation because she felt the NHS did not give enough information about the potential risks of abortion

Miss Forrester said: ‘My employers have not given me any warnings of any kind. They have offered me a new, better role with a wider scope. If at any point they do send me a warning, I will challenge it in court.

‘It was incredible that I was suspended in the first place, just because I expressed a personal opinion. I should be able to express my opinion privately without fear and act freely in good conscience. Today is a victory for freedom of speech. I want to thank all of those who have prayed for me and supported me.’

Andrea Minichiello Williams, a barrister who runs the Christian Legal Centre which supported Miss Forrester, said: ‘The level of intolerance in the public sphere, demonstrated increasingly in public sector employment, is deeply worrying. ‘We hope that today’s decision by the NHS will help to reverse the tide of intolerance. This is a victory for freedom of conscience and freedom of speech.’

source

NEWS - Will Sexual Harrassment Ever End? UK Sales manager 'put female colleague over his knee and spanked her'

A sales manager chased a female colleague around the office, put her across his knee and spanked her as well as encouraging other women to grab his genitals.

Peter Smith also sat female staff on his knee and looked at sex toys and blow up dolls on the internet, an employment tribunal was told.

Mr Smith and some of his colleagues are accused of bullying and and harassing former sales executive Angelina Ashby who worked for a marine supplies firm.

Sexual harassment: Angelina Ashby says she suffered at the hands of boss Pete Smith from marine supplies firm Cathelco

Miss Ashby, 40, told the Sheffield tribunal she was ostracised by staff for two years who teased her, talked about her in derogatory way, sent emails about and excluded her from office banter.

She also claimed they drew insulting cartoons about her weight which drove her to taking anti-depressants.

Miss Ashby, from Chesterfield, started working for the firm in June 2003 as a sales executive for Cathelco.

She said problems began in September 2006 when Mr Smith became her sales manager.

She said: 'I was subjected to a continuous course of mistreatment.

'A few days after my formal grievance was submitted Laura Holland, a sales administrator was chased round the office by Pete Smith, who then proceeded to put her over his knee and spank her.'

Her complaint was investigated by bosses but she resigned in October 2008. Miss Ashby said: 'Peter Smith would often make me feel uncomfortable.

'On one occasion he took his time to view sex toys, such as blow up dolls on the internet.

'He was more than aware I could see his screen as I sat directly behind and seemed to take his time viewing the website.'

Miss Ashby added: 'Pete Smith also used to sit female staff on his knee and stroke their hair and he would stand behind their chairs to do the same. I found it disconcerting and uncomfortable.'

She claimed Mr Smith also 'successfully encouraged' female staff to feel his genitals.

She is claiming constructive dismissal, sexual discrimination and pay discrimination against the firm, which supplies products to the marine industry to prevent metal corrosion and algae sticking to vessels.

The firm denies the allegations.

The tribunal was halted because one of the tribunal panel knew a witness. It will start again before a new panel next year.

source

World-famous conductor 'bullied oboe player who asked him to stop singing in 16-year victimisation campaign'

In the artistic world of music, harmony between conductor and orchestra is paramount.

But in one loud clash, two musicians have apparently been engaged in a feud which has lasted 16 years. Yesterday, details emerged of the discord between Carlo Rizzi, the world-renowned Italian conductor of the Welsh National Opera, and principal oboe player Murray Johnston.

Claims: Murray Johnston leaving the employment tribunal in Cardiff, left, and in action as principal oboist with the Wales National Orchestra

The 61-year-old claimed he was ‘victimised, bullied, harassed and intimidated’ by Mr Rizzi after once ordering him to ‘stop singing’. The veteran oboist has been sacked after playing with the WNO for 34 years, performing in more than 50 recordings.

He is claiming wrongful dismissal, saying he was ‘persistently abused’ by Mr Rizzi, 50, who became musical director of the Cardiff-based company in 1992.

Their relationship ‘never recovered’ after a rehearsal two years later when Mr Johnston told Mr Rizzi to ‘stop singing’, an employment tribunal heard. The context of the order to the conductor, who had previously been at the Royal Opera Company, Covent Garden, was not explained.

But Nick Smith, for the oboist, said: ‘Rizzi’s behaviour was extreme on that day. He stormed off, locked himself in a room and kicked furniture about.’

Mr Johnston told the hearing he suffered bullying and intimidation by Mr Rizzi during his work with the 55-strong orchestra over the following years. The principal oboist had to re-audition for his job even though he had been doing it for decades.

Tribunal: Italian conductor Carlo Rizzi, who is accused of bullying Mr Jonston

Mr Johnston, of Radyr, Cardiff, told the hearing he passed his audition, but alleges he was subjected to an ‘attack’ by Mr Rizzi in front of the orchestra during a rehearsal.

‘He stopped the rehearsal probably 20 or 30 times to criticise my playing. I felt victimised and bullied,’ said the musician.

Mr Smith added that many orchestra members wrote letters to complain about Mr Rizzi’s behaviour.

‘The language of these letters was very, very strong,’ he said.

‘They are from numerous members of the union, some anonymous, some not.

‘They accuse Mr Rizzi of intimidation and harassment, of even making one woman ill.’

The tribunal was told that Musicians’ Union members wrote letters to opera managers ‘expressing anger at the treatment of Mr Johnston’. A motion was also passed accusing Mr Rizzi of bullying.

WNO managing director Peter Bellingham denied Mr Johnston was unfairly dismissed.

He told the hearing that Mr Rizzi felt the oboist’s standards had dropped to such a level, he was ‘holding the entire orchestra back’.

Mr Rizzi, who has since left the WNO, will not be giving evidence. The hearing in Cardiff continues.

source

Sacked oboist was 'bullied' by conductor, tribunal hears

Welsh National Opera musician claims unfair dismissal after 1994 incident triggered years of 'persistent abuse'

LEGAL - Third Party Costs Order on £1m School Bullying Claim

I am looking back at some of the big legal cases from 2009... to find out what verdicts were delivered, often you will not see anything written again by way of a news report due to confidentiality, though if you dig enough you may see a commentary report or assessment made by legal or HR firms who use the cases as guidelines for advice.

The Story as reported on 3rd March 2009

Ex-pupil sues leading public school for £1m over claims bullies called him 'poor little rich boy', claims mental scarring.

A former pupil is suing a leading public school for almost £1million after he claims he was bullied by pupils who called him a 'poor little rich boy'.

'Taunted': Thomson as a teenager

John Thomson, 23, has launched a landmark High Court case claiming he has been left mentally scarred and his career ruined by repeated bullying and humiliation he endured at Berkhamsted Collegiate School. The university graduate is accusing staff of failing to protect him from fellow pupils who taunted him about living in a large house.

He claims he was picked on from the age of 11 by various boys who 'made his life hell' and the ordeal led to him developing a major depressive disorder. The school, which charges fees of £15,000 a year and whose alumni include Graham Greene, Michael Meacher and Emma Fielding, has insisted that the incidents were too trivial to be considered bullying.

The court heard that Mr Thomson-who lives in Meadway, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, attended the school between 1994 and 2002. After leaving he went on to study at Imperial College London but he says the abuse overshadowed his career prospects and he graduated with a second class degree when he had the potential to get a first.

Lawyers for the school, which is prized for its Christian values, pointed out that it is only two years since Mr Thomson graduated. Andrew Miller said it was unrealistic to suggest someone with his qualifications - 11 GCSEs, with ten at grade A* or A , four A-grade A-levels and a second-class degree - would have difficulty getting a job.

The alleged abuse began around 1996 when various boys 'started to pick on and tease him mercilessly', the court heard. His QC, Robert Glancy, told the court that the matter was reported to a senior teacher but no action was taken. His parents also complained to the school. Mr Thomson-an above-average student whose parents hoped would go on to Oxbridge, became withdrawn and subdued.

He would often be anxious and distressed at the start of a new term. He told a counsellor he felt 'his life was not worth living', Mr Glancy told Mr Justice Blake in London.

The chapel at Berkhamsted School , which is being sued by Thomson

The bullying took a new turn in 2001 - his GCSE year - when one fellow schoolboy 'manipulated various social circumstances him embarrassment and distress'. 'In particular, he received invitations to parties unexpectedly where he was subjected to sexual approaches by young women,' Mr Glancy added, claiming the girls were 'associated' with boys who made Mr Thomson's life a misery.

Mr Miller said the incidents at two out-of-school parties involved 'consensual sexual conduct'. His to cause ordeal culminated in a 'purported suicide attempt' shortly afterwards during a school trip to Greece, the court was told. A month later he sent a letter of complaint to the school governors and stood up in his science class, announcing he had been bullied.

In 2002, he moved to Aylesbury Grammar School where he did well. But he claims the bullying at a critical period of his adolescence led to a struggle finding suitable work.

Doctors said Mr Thomson was shy and had poor self-esteem and difficulties forming relationships, said Mr Glancy, adding: 'The claimant and his parents trusted the school to nurture and develop him intellectually and personally and the school has let him down.'

Hundreds of photographs showing Mr Thomson looking happy as a teenager may be used in evidence against his claims, it emerged last night. Many are believed to have been taken from social networking site Facebook.

The school denies it was negligent or in breach of its duty of care. source

DECISION

Third Party Costs Order

Where family had funded a claimant's litigation, there was a reasonable prospect of success in obtaining a third party costs order where the family were directly concerned with the facts of the claim, had taken an active role and gained a benefit from the litigation, and had sought to control its course.

JOHN THOMSON (Claimant) v BERKHAMSTED COLLEGIATE SCHOOL (Defendant) and (1) IAN THOMSON (2) GRACINDA THOMSON (Interested Parties) [2009] EWHC 2374 (QB)

Background

Mr & Mrs Thomson's son, John (J), a former pupil at Berkhamsted Collegiate School (BCS), had brought a claim for damages against BCS for failure to take proper measures to prevent him from being bullied whilst he was at the school. Two weeks into the trial, J discontinued his claim and BCS sought its substantial costs in defending the action which it alleged was wholly misconceived. J was unemployed and the costs of his litigation had been met by his parents (P). Accordingly, BCS wished to claim its costs from P pursuant to the Supreme Court Act 1981 s.51 and CPR r.48.2. Pursuant to that application BCS sought orders requiring P to file and serve disclosure statements setting out correspondence between them and J's solicitors, experts and counsel; in addition they sought orders against J with respect to disclosure and his claim of legal professional privilege.

Decision

On 2^nd October 2009 Mr Justice Blake held that...

(1) Before considering whether it was necessary to make the Orders sought by BCS, the Court needed to consider when a third party costs order was likely to be made in cases such as the instant one. The law as to third party costs was sufficiently stated inDymocks Franchise Systems (NSW) Pty Ltd v Todd (Costs) (2004) UKPC 39, (2004) 1 WLR 2807 and the following principles were relevant: (i) such an order was exceptional (ii) the application should normally be determined by the trial judge (iii) pure funders with no personal interest in the litigation would not normally have the discretion exercised against them, Hamilton v Al-Fayed (Costs) (2002) EWCA Civ 665, (2003) QB 1175 applied (iv) it was relevant but not decisive that the defendant had warned the non-party of the intention to seek costs or the non-party's funding had caused the defendant to incur costs it would not otherwise have had to incur (v) the conduct of the non-party in the course of the litigation was of relevance (vi) in a family funding context courts had been reluctant to impose third party costs orders against those family members who assisted a party for philanthropic and disinterested reasons and (vii) the inherent strength of the application was always a relevant factor, Dymocks applied. In this case, P were not merely funders but were directly concerned with the facts of the claim and played an active role in the litigation. There was substance to the suggestion that the litigation was speculative as to its prospects of success. It was doubtful that it would have been funded if T had not made funds available themselves. Accordingly, an application for third party costs had a reasonable prospect of success. The only doubt was over whether P gained a benefit from the litigation and sought to control its course.

(2) BCS could only demonstrate the element of control if it knew what communications P had had with the solicitors, counsel and experts in the case. Restricting the period of time during which the disclosure was required reduced the scale of the disclosure sought and any practical difficulties.

(3) J had claimed legal professional privilege but it did not normally exist in communications between a solicitor and third parties that were not immediately connected with that third party's witness statement or the giving of legal advice to the claimant. An analysis of the documents was required to determine which attracted privilege. The correspondence sought was likely to be probative and not privileged in its entirety and it was not disproportionate for the material to be sought.

Link to Judgment

source

Judge grants application over disclosure of correspondence

John Thomson v Berkhamsted Collegiate School (Defendant) & (1) Ian Thomson (2) Gracinda Thomson (interested parties)

(Queen's Bench Division — 2 October 2009)

John Thomson, the claimant, brought a claim against his former school for failure to prevent bullying. He subsequently discontinued at trial. The defendant sought to obtain a third-party costs order against the claimant's parents (interested parties) pursuant to rule 48.2 of the civil procedure rules as interested parties. The defendant applied for disclosure of the correspondence that passed between the claimant's solicitors and his parents. The parents opposed the application on the grounds that such documents were privileged.

In considering the application, the judge identified the relevant factors as: the strength of the application for third-party costs on present evidence; whether it would be obvious on summary assessment that the documents will be privileged; the potential value of the documents sought to determine the application; and whether an order would be just and proportionate in the circumstances.

The judge found that on the face of it the application was a strong one, as the interested parties were more than disinterested funders and had a vested interest in the claim succeeding. He was also convinced that the documents were potentially relevant, albeit he limited the period of time for which correspondence should be disclosed.

The judge did not consider that the documents were likely to be subject to legal professional privilege save for those relating to the interested parties' role as witnesses to the claim.

He noted the Catch-22 situation that if the correspondence was privileged in that it related to advice between a solicitor and his client, it would assist the defendant's case that the interested parties were, in fact, claimants.

In terms of proportionality, the judge recognised the exercise of disclosure would be carried out by the solicitors, in that they could extract such correspondence from their own files, and was not, therefore, an onerous duty on the parties. The judge thus granted the application for disclosure.

Comment

This is a potentially very important decision for schools and their insurers. Parents who believe that they can litigate through their children, and thereby avoid an effective adverse costs order, should take very careful note.

- Richard Wilkins, partner, BLM London. source

Looking a little further, this case started back in 2002

Fee-paying school faces legal test on bullying

An independent school that prides itself on Christian values is threatened with being taken to court by a 16-year-old boy who claims he was bullied because he lived in a big house.

John Thomson, 16, claims the school failed to protect him from the bullies who made his life a misery, laying in wait for him and ridiculing him as a "poor little rich boy" and a "social incompetent".

If the case against Berkhamsted Collegiate school, in Hertfordshire, reaches the High Court it will be the first legal test of the law relating to bullying in independent schools. Though lawyers say there have been "scores" of claims on behalf of pupils bullied in fee-paying schools, they have been dropped or settled out of court.

The boy's parents, Ian and Gracinda, of Berkhamsted, claim the school, which charges nearly £10,000 for day pupils and £15,000 for boarders, did not take sufficient steps to ensure his wellbeing and failed to implement or review its policy to tackle bullying. But the school says its solicitors have been unable to get details of the proposed claim, despite being notified three months ago that it was being made.

Though it did not want to comment on issues concerning a child's welfare, the school said it had taken the complaints by the pupil and his parents "very seriously".

"After a thorough investigation following established procedures, the parents disagreed with the conclusions and threatened to sue," it said in a statement from Berrymans Lace Mawer, the solicitors instructed to represent it.

"Ours is a caring school and the boy has received considerable pastoral support throughout."

Mrs Thomson said she and her husband had spoken to teachers at the school and Priscilla Chadwick, its principal, many times. However, she claims no satisfactory conclusion was reached.

"They seem to believe that it is just John's perception of the behaviour of the pupils and deny that bullying goes on there," said Mrs Thomson.

"John remembers quite clearly that it started when he invited three pupils home who then started to tease him about being a poor little rich boy.

"We do live in a big house, but we are not snobs. Last week someone came to the door when I was cleaning the letter box and asked if the lady of the house was in," she said. "Plenty of the pupils have well-off parents but this boy decided to pick on John."

Their son reported the bullying and a master spoke to the boys. "Two of them stopped but the other one carried on," said John. "He used to wait until I was on my own and say things, or just laugh at me.

"I tried to deal with it and kept thinking that I only had to keep going until I was 16 and then we would be split up in the sixth form."

But he claims it got worse last year, when he reached the sixth form, and one of the boys started to intimidate him by standing outside the door of his "house room", a rest room for students, who are divided into groups, or "houses".

The school, whose former pupils include Graham Greene, Michael Meacher and Emma Fielding, prides itself on its Christian ethos and aims to provide a good, all-round education, including a strong entry to the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme.

But John claims that it started to take the problem seriously only recently.

"The ethos of the school is great for those who feel confident and are strong characters. Those who are not confident as a result of bullying in the school and those who are slightly weaker in character are having a terrible time," he told the chairman of the school's governing body in a letter last November.

John left the school after his AS-level exams and started at another one earlier this month. source

LEGAL - 'Bullied' City lawyer Gillian Switalski seeking £19m settles for secret payout

Deal: former head of legal affairs at F&C Gill Switalski

A City lawyer who had claimed a record £19 million in compensation over workplace bullying has settled for an undisclosed multi-million-pound sum.

Gill Switalski, 54, who earned £140,000 a year at F&C Asset Management, had already won her claims for sexual discrimination, victimisation and constructive dismissal.

Ms Switalski was head of legal affairs at F&C which controls assets of more than £100 billion, and also ran her own property development company and a legal training website.

She alleged in her lawsuit that she had been harassed and victimised by her employers from late 2004, and unable to work from August 2006, when she took sick leave following an operation. The tribunal ruled in her favour in March 2008.

Ms Switalski, a mother of two, claimed during her legal battle that she had been left almost penniless because her ex-employers were deliberately delaying her payout to “grind her into the ground”.

She said she was in a “dire financial position” and her £3.7 million house in Virginia Water was at risk because F&C launched a string of appeals against the tribunal rulings.

F&C appealed against the original decision twice, first in May 2008 and again in July 2009. In both cases the ruling was in Ms Switalski's favour.
At one stage in proceedings she was seeking £19 million though this was later lowered to £12 million.

A remedy hearing, where a judge decides on the size of the payout, was due to take place this week.

F&C appealed against the decision on the grounds that Ms Switalski had successfully applied for another job while on sick leave, thus disqualifying claims that her treatment at F&C had put an end to her career.

A spokesman for F&C said: “The parties have resolved all issues between them on the basis that all claims are withdrawn and will make no further statement.”

source

March 2010 - Lawyer who fought sexists wins millions in secret payout

July 2009 - 'Lawyer banks on record damages as panel upholds her harassment claim' - Tribunal upholds earlier ruling that Gill Switalski suffered sex bias and harassment. She is claiming £12 million damages

August 2008 - 'Lawyer in £19 million bullying case wins latest round'

LEGAL NEWS - 2010

Harbottle & Lewis successfully represent Gill Switalski in ground breaking discrimination claim

On 18 July 2009, following a Review Hearing that took place last month, the Employment Tribunal announced its decision to uphold the decision of an earlier Employment Tribunal that Gillian Switalski had suffered sexual discrimination, victimisation and harassment whilst employed by City-based F&C Asset Management as the Head of Legal. This is the latest twist in this long running and ground breaking discrimination case which has already been the subject matter of contested appeals to the Employment Appeal Tribunal on two occasions as well as an appearance before the Court of Appeal. The case is now listed for a hearing to award compensation in early January 2010.

Employment law Partner Howard Hymanson, who is acting for Gill Switalski said: "I am delighted for my client that once again she has been vindicated in her claim against her former employer F&C Asset Management.

One should not underestimate the pressure that she and her family have had to endure in fighting to clear her name against highly resourced and belligerent adversary intent upon pursuing every possible legal avenue of appeal in order to avoid paying compensation for the damage it has caused to her health and her career.

Notwithstanding every attempt that has been made to destroy her credibility my client remains resolute and is greatly relieved that a newly constituted tribunal has rejected once again the application for a review of the judgments made in her favour by the original tribunal.

My client now hopes that this long running litigation may soon come to an end so that she may begin the process of looking forward with her life rather than having to re-live the discriminatory treatment she received at the hand of her employer."

For further information, please contact Howard Hymanson on 020 7667 5000.


View press coverage on the case:

The Times

The Guardian

Financial Times

Daily Express

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