Bullying In The Connecticut Workplace

Bullying in the Connecticut workplace is not illegal.  We receive many phone calls and emails from Connecticut workers who are being verbally abused and bullied in the office and believe that they have a legal case against their employer  Unfortunately, such abuse is not illegal and there is no legal case. There is no Connecticut or federal law to protect an employee from verbal abuse or bullying.  The exception to this rule is if the abuse and bullying is being motivated by unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, gender, disability, religious background, sexual orientation or age.  If this is the case, then the employee has legal remedies.  But, if your boss or supervisor is simply an equal opportunity bully, you, as the employee, can complain to your employer about it but your employer is under no legal obligation to correct it.  Interestingly, our elected Connecticut representatives are well aware of the problem and this "loophole" in the law.  Legislation has been proposed to outlaw workplace bullying but it has never been passed.