Debate Issue | Take a Stand - Is Workplace Bullying Serious Enough to Warrant Legal Action? Workplace bullying is abusive behavior used to assert one's power over another. One survey shows that more than one-third of employees have been victims of some kind of workplace bullying behavior. In many cases, the bullies are the supervisors of the organization. Yet while some countries have laws against workplace bullying, the United States does not. Many believe employees should be legally protected from workplace bullying because bullying is harmful to employee health. Victims of bullying suffer from symptoms including depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. Bullying permeates the environment of the workplace, causing bystanders to feel its unpleasant effect and creating a toxic workplace. Others, however, believe anti-bullying laws would limit managers' ability to manage since they would constantly be afraid their management styles could be perceived as bullying. Also, critics of such a law argu that bullying is hard to define, making such a law difficult to enforce. Instead, the are in favor of internal ways to combat bullying, including conflict resolution, harassment awareness, and sensitivity trainings. 1. Bullying in organizations can be harmful to employees and therefore warrants legal action. 2. Laws against bullying are not feasible as they are hard to define and have the potential to limit managers' ability to manage