Start with a summary

'...The bully will fan the flames of fear in your coworkers suggesting you are mentally ill. He will continue to antangonize you hoping that you will slip up in your diminished and now highly emotional state. Your complaints to management, or if the bully is a manager, your complaints to company executives or HR will fall on deaf ears. The bully has already poisoned their minds against you. You will be dismissed as a paranoid troublemaker, possibly mentally unbalanced and a threat to company morale and safety.

As you take more time off work to try to get a handle on the situation it will be used against you. It will, naturally, impact your productivity. You will be called into the office where you will be blamed for what is happening. Your boss will tell you that your productivity is slipping, you are missing work, coworkers have been complaining about your poor attitude. You will be told to shape up or ship out. You will be asked, "Why don't you just quit if you hate it here so much?" You will tell them you love your job, that the bullying which management is condoning is effecting your health and making it difficult for you to do your job. You will tell them they are responsible. You will be disciplined, you will be punished and then - you will be terminated...'

From: Mobbing Survival


'...Ironically, it is in workplaces where workers’ rights are formally protected that the complex and devious incursions on human dignity that constitute mobbing most commonly occur. Union shops are one example, as in the case of the factory worker described above. University faculties are another, on account of the special protections of tenure and academic freedom professors have...'

From: At the Mercy of the Mob


I have found that it is difficult for many people to follow a story if it is too complex and if it involves too many strands and persons over a long period of time. Also, it is useful to be able to summarise the story in brief because you may need to tell someone - specially if you are asking for advice - in a brief and precise way.

• Lesson learnt: If your case of bullying is protracted, involves a number of people, is complex, then make an effort to summarise it in a few words, otherwise people around you will not be able to follow all the threads.