We are pleased that Prof. David Yamada of Suffolk University Law School, and Director of the New Workplace Institute, wrote to us to comment on our recent discussion on anti-bullying legislation.  Check out his extensive publications in this field, for which he provided us a link (below) for a good analysis of the relevant issues.

You can also see his informative Youtube video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EorTZHnukDU and his blog video at http://healthyworkplacebill.org/blog/tag/david-yamada/

“As the author of the template legislation that serves as the basis of most of the workplace anti-bullying bills introduced across the country, I can attest that the need for such legislation is underscored by the terrible inadequacy of existing law, including tort claims (IIED) and other causes of action. Could it also be that the Martin investigators didn’t see the need to highlight the general absence of legal protections for those whose situations, unlike Jonathan Martin’s, do not directly overlap with protected class status?

You may access some of the legal scholarship I’ve written on this issue here:  http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf…

In any event, the template bill, a/k/a The Healthy Workplace Bill, sets a relatively high threshold for recovery, higher in fact than hostile work environment standards for sexual harassment. In other words, it’s about creating a cause of action for abuse, not incivility.”

Sincerely,
David Yamada – Blog: http://newworkplace.wordpress….