Oooh, office politics can be so petty at times. Most people, however, grit their teeth and get through it, but some – yoh – some just cannot deal.
The latest incident of office politics to rock the world and change a country’s law has led to the ruling that ‘unfriending your work colleague’ is considered bullying. This occurred in Australia after two women who work together at a real estate agency in Tasmania had a little squabble.
You see, after quarrelling over a property sale, Mrs Bird stopped greeting her colleague, Ms Roberts, in the morning and then promptly unfriended her on Facebook, too.
Ms Roberts had complained to James Bird, the boss of the agency, The View, in Launceston – and husband of Mrs Bird – that she was not getting a fair representation of her properties displayed in the front window of the agency.
Best response? Mrs Bird called a meeting in which she called Ms Roberts a “naughty little schoolgirl running to the teacher”.
Chicks, hey.
The Fair Work Commissioner of Australia ruled that the the whole incident was not cool.
A lack of emotional maturity and is indicative of unreasonable behaviour. Calling her a ‘schoolgirl’ was ‘provocative and disobliging.
The tribunal found that Mrs Bird’s behaviour posed a risk to the employee’s health and safety as Ms Roberts was diagnosed with depression and anxiety, receiving treatment from a psychologist as she was deemed unfit to return to work until the dispute was resolved.
Yet again, the Nanny State acts in the name of the people who can’t speak up for themselves.
[source: dailymail]
