Most of us live paycheck to paycheck, completely reliant on our employment income to feed our families and keep a roof over our heads. Our medical care is mostly employer funded also. This creates a powerful motivator to tolerate inhumane treatment and unsafe environments that exploit workers. Individuals often see taking abuse as the only option-the alternative is even more bleak, especially in marginalized groups. The National Workplace Bullying Coalition defines the problem as, “The unwanted, unwelcome abuse of any source of power that has the effect of or intent to intimidate, control or otherwise strip a target of their right to esteem, growth, dignity, voice or other human rights in the workplace.”
Dr. Jerry Carbo is a Professor of Management at the Grove College of Business at Shippensburg University. He teaches courses in Employment Law, Labor Relations, Business and Society, HRM and Organizational Behavior. Dr. Carbo’s research includes workplace bullying and harassment, employee rights, socially sustainable business systems and union reform and revitalization. Dr. Carbo has a JD from the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University, and a PhD and MILR from the Industrial and Labor Relations School of Cornell University. In addition to numerous articles, Dr. Carbo has published the guides Know Your Rights: Ending Harassment in Your Workplace, and Understanding, Defining and Eliminating Workplace Bullying: Assuring Dignity at Work. Dr. Carbo is a Board Member of the National Workplace Bullying Coalition and served on the EEOC Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace. He will ground the conversation in current research, social justice, and harm reduction to targets of bullying.