I'm sure the advice to notify or get help from your boss or HR is good in most cases. Unfortunately, there are some organizations that have a bully as the chief and his HR and legal advisors are there to protect him. It makes for an absolutely miserable work environment. It is workplace dysfunction and when its prevelant, you can feel it the moment you walk in the door. I left behind sad people who haven't found a way out. If it were a public corporation, the shareholders would see the decrease in productivity and profits. But in a governmental agency, there are only politicians involved and we all know how astute they can be.

14 years ago I worked for Hospital . I was picked on by my boss and from all my coworkers. I was threatened, sexually harassed, I had equipment sabotaged right before my shift began. They had me arrested at work, beat-up by the Pd and thrown in jail.They wanted to make an example out of me. Their mistake was they should have killed me when they had the chance.

I had this happen to me by the VP of HR of a large Association! I kept reporting it to my immediate supervisor and they chose to ignore it. She verbally abused me in front of my coworkers but never in front of the supervisors. She finally ran me off, I couldn't take it any more. And the sad part was, I loved my job and was very good at it. I didn't want to leave, but I couldn't take the verbal abuse any more and realized there was nobody going to bat for me.

I was recruited to a non-profit organization--relocated for the position on my own dime. When I interviewed, they failed to tell me that I was the 9th person in the position in the past 3 years. I was berated and torn down on a regular basis. I felt sick whenever the supervisor was in the area, because no one know who would be the target of one of her rampages.

Documents I submitted were turned back to me up to 27 times to redo to have the final approved copy to be what I orginally submitted. I was told not to talk to other staff or set up meetings with other team members. It was her way of isolating and limiting me. This woman yelled at me daily and even threw things at me. She told me I did not know anything about OD (I have a Masters and am ABD in OD) and that I could not write (have been published). She has a BA in Theatre and claims to be the goddess of OD and training. She passed my work as her own.

One staff member had a miscarriage and the day she came back this "supervisor" gave her a baby doll and asked her to incorporate it in her presentations. The woman broke down and never returned. Amazingly, this woman is being groomed for a VP position despite acting in ways not in accordance with the organization's values and mission. (Religiously affiliated organization.) She called everyone including the COO stupid, would often make fun of overweight and gay individuals, tell people they had learning disabilities if they were not linear thinkers, and perpetuated rumors and speculated the affairs of members of upper management.

I did sit down with her a number of times to get more structure, clarify expectations, and learn more about the organizational culture. I asked for feedback and got none. I also told her I did not appreciate the way she was treating me and others. I had been warned that confronting her would result in repercussions and it did. A week later, I was told I was not a fit and could be replaced by a consultant. Essentially, I was let go without eligibility for COBRA or unemployment or a severance. She told me that shouldn't be a problem because I was a talented, intelligent woman who would find something soon. (Clueless to the goings on in the job market.) All this from the woman that a week before introduced me as her best friend and shared with me information about her incessant UTIs. No one knew what Susan we were dealing with at any given moment and she ruled through fear...the classic queen bee.

Though she drained me personally, professionally and financially, I am glad to be away from her toxicity. I loved the work and people there, but any organization that allows for this demeaning and disrespectful treatment of staff and even rewards it, is not an organization I want to work for. It was blessing and a lesson hard learned.

I've had three job situations where I've been bullied and I agree with InTex. Generally the bully has been my boss and never forget that HR is there to protect the organization's interests, not yours. Unless you are part of a union where you have a formal grievance process, you are better off getting out of the situation. The challenge of course is that when you are bullied you are likely depressed and your self-esteem is low. All I can say is dig deep and do what you have to to find a solution outside of the current situation.

Now, can anyone tell me how to rebuild your confidence after you're out?

I tried to stand up to a work place bully but since she was the girlfriend of the manager of the company, I got fired. That was about 15 yrs. ago and to this day I still have nightmares about how she verbally abused me. Basically I was never able to work after that. I was very good at my job and loved it but she bragged she could get rid of me and she did.