JODIE’S LAW, WISCONSIN (3:37) Lisa and her family struggle to understand why her sister’s supervisor “kept badgering her and backing her into a corner and my sister just felt helpless” The year that Jodie died marked the highest number of workplace suicides ever reported by the fatality census [USDOL] . A jump of nearly 30% over the year before and soon to be released numbers are expected to be even higher. Unfortunately even the USDOL admits the number is no doubt higher still since their data does not reflect incidents that happened at home instead of on the jobsite. Their figures show the most vulnerable groups are males (94%), aged 45-54 (36%), and white (78%). If you or someone you know has thoughts of suicide seek help immediately and contact your local crisis line or counseling center</p>
February 11th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
BEVERLY,
THANK YOU FOR THIS SNEAK PEAK OF THE DOCUMENTARY. I HAVE WATCHED IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN. THANK YOU AGAIN, SO MUCH. NOW OF COURSE WE WILL ALL BE WAITING FOR THE ENTIRE DOCUMENTARY.
LOVE,
JOIE
February 12th, 2010 at 10:13 am
I posted this to the Connecticut Healthy Workplace Advocates FB site. Once again, you have captured the essence of the horrors of workplace bullying. Thank you for your work, Bev. May God bless and watch over Jodie’s family.
February 12th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
my heart felt sympathy goes out to this family, i have been going through the same thing and know one understands the helpless hopeless feeling victims experience unless you have been there. people say get over it, dont let them make you quit your job or they are just jealous, none of this helps because as a victim you feel that you dont have recourse. doctors dont understand and when you seek legal help attorneys turn you away stating the abuse is legal. in order to get this legislation passed we need advocates and legal professionals in our corner. we have to bring awareness to this problem out in the open because wo often suffer in bitter silence. i am seeking advocates as well as victims in south carolina so that we can campaign for a law in this state. i also think seeking publicity on the major news network, talk shows and magazines would be a great idea. god bless
February 12th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Joie, Beverly,
On behalf on the New York Healthy Workplace Advocates and your dedication in lobbying with us in the state capitol, we continue to work hard to stop this form of workplace violence and help all the Jodie’s out there in the country find a better solution to the pain and anguish they experience when being bullied in the workplace. We will be in Albany again on Feb 22 & 23 and will let our state legislators know that Jodie’s Story is here to be seen by all. Mike
February 12th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
I am so sorry for your pain and loss. I too have experienced this and got no help for it. I went through the proper channels in companies and ended up on the street. I have had to take disability twice during work and am now completely disabiled with mental health problems. I tried to talk to my mental health care workers and they said this behaviour is not happening in the work place and it is my fault if I am being picked on. MY Doctors, GP. Psychiatrist, counsellors. They all called me a liar. People in the workforce are so cowardly they will not stand up against bullying when the see it. I have begged for help while being verbally assaulted in meetings and people just look down. I too am multi-talented and well educated. I am friendly, helpful and well liked. I am also too emotionally vulnerable to take the abuse by groups of people. So after putting myself through university and working hard to give my child a decent life, I am notw living well below the poverty line. I had to live on my savings when I was unable to work.I have lost a home and everything in it. I did it all right to get ahead and am worse off now than before I started working.
Work place bullying is a killer.
Again, I am so sorry this happened. Do not think ever that Jodie did anything to deserve this, no matter what anyone might say. There are monsters in the work force who enjoy torturing others. They find the best and the brightest and then gradually destroy them if they can. Other’s, even your so-called friends will abandon you and will not speak up against the perpetrator (s). To make it worse, almost no one will believe you. You stand alone.
February 12th, 2010 at 10:32 pm
Joie… your story is powerful and you were great. I know that healing takes time and patience… lots of tears and unanswered questions. I am honored to have you working towards our mutual goal ~ to have workplace bullying/violence/psychological harassment ended for everybody.
As Sandy said above..”workplace bulling is a killer”. It is indeed in many ways. But, Sandy…. you are not alone!
My heart is with you and your family.
Tracey
February 13th, 2010 at 2:16 am
Thank you for posting this. I was in the very same position and contemplated the very same end result. Those intentions were e-mailed to a friend of mine who then forwarded it to the CEO and others at my workplace. I was then sent to the hospital and forced to take FMLA. My reputation was now damaged along with my self respect. My bullying experience went on for over a decade and not one person assisted me with my problem. The Bully was the H.R. Manager (a person one goes to with problems such as this). I had no place to turn to. Everyone was afraid of rocking the boat with the H.R. Dept. so no one assisted me. I was alone and felt desperate.
My situation only got worse, I was targeted even more, lost time from work, heavely medicated and eventually laid off due to the economy. Of course, we all know I was laid off due to personal reasons (I was now a Liability and the Bully was named).
The people who bullied me have gotten away with it and I sit with the loss of my income, my retirement benefits and my dignity (still suffer with PTSD symptoms and am trying to pick up the pieces).
Had I not had the strength of my religion, the love of my family and friends I, too, may have ended up like Jodie. It is a sad, sad world we live in if this is allowed to continue. Heck, the schools have an Anti-Bullying Law in CT. why not put one into place for employees, as well? Just a thought.
February 17th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Dee
There are many of us who have been in that place. I too have no benefits, am extremely underemployed and unsatisfied, had to sell my home, suffered major depression and PTSD. It has been over three years and I still think about ending my life. Not sure that will ever go away. Three years and still trying to piece together what is left of my life. Thank God for family.
February 17th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
A powerful story of an under-recognized problem — suicide and the workplace. I think now more than ever, we must team up our efforts and help workplaces create mentally healthy environments for their employees. Thank you for this great work.
Sally
February 18th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Bullying is a serious problem that does not get the attention it deserves. Awareness is the key. Getting help is essential. See a therapist or talk with those close to you.
February 18th, 2010 at 5:09 pm
THANK YOU Beverly for taking the time to hear our story on my sister Jodie Lynne. I miss her so much, my life is so empty without her. I loved her not only as a sister but like a daughter. I am so angry about the abuse my sister had to deal with. I just wish I could have done something to help Jodie through all the pain she felt.
February 18th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by drLBarrow: Please share this clip with others. No Job Is Worth Losing The Precious Gift of Life (HD) – http://nojobisworththis.com/archives/1072...
February 19th, 2010 at 9:48 am
Lisa ~ I am so proud of you and I know nothing will ever fill the empty void the loss of our Jodie has left with us. You are very brave in carrying on. I was so pleased to see your note of Thanks to Beverly here. I love you very much. Auntie
March 5th, 2010 at 11:34 am
My heart goes out to your family….This is absolutely horrific. I was also in a horrible bullying (mobbing) in the workplace…I to contemplated suicide , I had a plan and everything..because I had no language to use that expressed what was truly happening to me and not ONE of my co-workers stood by me or even inquired if I was having problems….Some people LOVE to cause injury to others…they get off on it. I am lucky to be alive today though it has been 8 years since it has happened..I struggle to accept that this kind of evil exists …JEALOUSY POWER STRGGLES AND BAD BAD BAD MANAGEMENT…Shame on our workplace….
March 23rd, 2010 at 7:17 pm
I am so sorry for the loss this family has suffered because of needless workplace bullying. When the family was describing how silly Jodie felt over documenting the hundreds of tiny little things, it rang 100% true to me. Today is my 8 month anniversary at my job and I feel like I’ve been there 800 years. Perhaps it will ease the family’s pain just a little to know how many people they’re helping by making this documentary. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
March 23rd, 2010 at 9:24 pm
Thank you so much for your heartfelt and deeply moving comments. One of the reasons it was so important for me to include that particular statement was because I know first hand how that feels. And, your own comment about how incredibly quickly this devastation piles up hits home as well. It is hard for others to imagine the level of devastation that can happen in 8 months or less. I will pass on your comments to Jodie’s family and my best wishes to you. I trust that you have found counseling and support to help you through your situation.
April 11th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
We are going through this at our workplace and the person doing the bullying is very good at hiding it from others. There are four of us who are the targets and we have been keeping records of this. We took it to our higher up in the company and they so called investigated it and basically put US on trial. We were told that is was us who were at fault and we needed to be more professional and put our customers first not worry about the aggressor. We were all to GET ALONG. The person that is doing it does not work for our company but is instead a worker of a person who leases a place in the establishment. In other words this person has no accountability and can basically get away with it. I just do not understand why this is allowed to go unpunished. We dread going to work and I have found that I was thinking of suicide but this video has changed my mind. People just do not understand how this tears a person down. The CONSTANT degrading and little things do add up. Lately it has been getting physical with things being kicked out in front of people trying to trip them as they walk by. One person was actually elbowed by this person. When this was brought up the investigators asked if that person was maybe being playful with them. Playful????? How can they even think that?? Maybe these investigators need to be in our shoes for a month to see what its really like to understand what its like. I will probably loss my job for this but I have had it. There are many other places I could get a better job without working with a pathetic bully like this person.
April 15th, 2010 at 10:21 am
It’s sick that people are allowed to bully. It’s sick when the bully is the head of “HR” and so well protected that they snicker at people, call them vulgar names and then put on a different face in front of the people that are protecting them. It’s sick that people like that have a ridiculous title that describes them as an executive. It’s sick that bullies even have a job.
April 22nd, 2010 at 10:36 am
I’m so glad that someone is finally speaking up against this. I was a supervisor for a large corporation and was bullied for 3 years by one of my employees. After talking with several people in the company I realized that I wasn’t the first to go through this with that employee. Five other people went through this with them and upper management knew about it. The employee clearly had emotional issues that they were unable to deal with. This particular employee followed a coworker of mine home and gave her the bird for about 5 miles. I ended up leaving the company due to the stress. I gave up full benefits and I am making $5.00 less an hour. (I also have 4 children at home) I know what you mean when you say “NO job is worth this!!”
Thank you
and God Bless!!!
June 2nd, 2010 at 1:34 pm
cheers very much, I have to say your site is excellent!
June 30th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
I found your blog on Google , this is a great blog , i will come back.
August 22nd, 2010 at 10:42 am
I have being going through that situation in my job for 6 years, sometimes I have to take a pill to be able to work under that pressure. The only solution I have is to leave the job and my rent control apartment and move with my relatives,losing the job and medical insurance. To prepare for this decision got me depressed already. One feels helpless and angry at the same time.
September 1st, 2010 at 5:21 am
I hope that if you haven’t already you seek out counseling and support to help you through your situation at work. Warm wishes to you.