Stand Up, Speak Out & Reclaim Your Power in the Workplace

If you’re not sure how to do that, my next guest Kimberly Williams can help. Kimberly, as many people are, was thrust into HR work almost against her will. But her background as a high school history teacher provided a great framework for her new task. Working for the US State Dept. gave her the appreciation for the career that she now loves.

However; it was the difficulty she saw many people have after being bullied in the workplace that truly grabbed her attention, and cultivated her desire to help do something about this loophole in the law.

After moving to the private sector and working for corporate America, Kimberly herself became the victim of this abuse. Time after time, these bullies got away with their behavior with the defence that they aren’t targeting any one person, or protected class, they are just mean to everyone – therefore, it’s ok.

Well, Kimberly and I are here to tell you it is not OK. And Kimberly is actually taking action to close the loophole and make workplaces safer. As the spokesperson for End Workplace Abuse, she and many others are working diligently to pass the Workplace Psychological Safety Act, currently in MA and hopefully in every state across the US.

This work is important!

On the website workplacepsychologicalsafetyact.org, they state “The number of employment discrimination filings doubled in the 1990s, from 10,000 in 1991 to 23,735 in 1998, decreasing to 13,831 in 2014, with race and gender topping the reasons for lawsuits (Berrey et al., 2023). But only a small percentage of targets file legal claims. “About four-in-ten working women (42 percent) in the United States say they have faced discrimination on the job because of their gender” and “about one in four Black (24 percent) and Hispanic employees (24 percent) in the U.S. report having been discriminated against at work in the past year” (Parker & Funk, 2020; Lloyd, 2022).” Additionally “in 2008 toxic workplaces cost organizations over $16 Billion in related healthcare costs.” Imagine what that number is today! It really is bad for business!\

So why is it still happening? Because they get away with it and because it is so hard for victims (ne Survivors) of this abuse to actually win a case. Often the victim is blamed, shamed or accused of lying. The burden of proof lies on them. Even though it is known that coming forward is going to cause even more mental harm. It doesn’t make much sense.

So listen to this episode to find out what Kimberly is doing, learn ways to protect yourself, and if you’re dealing with workplace abuse you can learn practical ways to document and present your case to ensure you are heard.

Here are some additional resources:

Connect with Kimberly directly on LInkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-e-williams/

Learn more about the End Workplace Abuse movement – www.endworkplaceabuse.com

Support the act – https://workplacepsychologicalsafetyact.org/