* María Isabel S. Guerrero is the Editor in Chief of the International & Comparative Law Review.
1 Working Paper, Bullying at Work, Eur. Parl. Doc. (SOCI 108) 6 (2001), http://www.europarl.eu.int/workingpapers/soci/pdf/108_en.pdf [hereinafter Bullying at Work]; Laurent Vogel, Psychological Harassment at Work and the Law Wanted: An Integrated Whole-Workforce Approach in Workplace Health Policy 22 (Trade Union Technical Bureau, Newsletter No. 19–20, 2000), http://www.etuc.org/tutb/uk/pdf/
2002-19p20-25.pdf; Press Release, International Labor Organization, Violence on the Job—A Global Problem: Taxi Drivers, Healthcare Workers, Teachers Among Those at Highest Risk (July 20, 1998), at http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/1998/30.htm. For consistency, the term “moral harassment” will be used throughout this Note, except in specific contexts where legal or psychological materials use one of the other terms for moral harassment. For a proposal to codify moral harassment in the United States as a status-blind “intentional infliction of a hostile work environment,” see David C. Yamada, The Phenomenon of “Workplace Bullying” and the Need for Status-Blind Hostile Work Environment Protection, 88 Geo. L.J. 475, 524, 529 (2000).
2 Bullying at Work, supra note 1, at 5, 7.
3 European Parliament Resolution on Harassment at the Workplace, 2001/2339(INI), at 9, (July 16, 2001), http://indigo.ie/~odonnllb/cabullying/305695EN.doc [hereinafter Harassment at the Workplace].
4 Id. at 5.
5 See generally id. at 18.
6 European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, European Week 2002: Preventing Psychological Risks at Work, at http://osha.eu.int/ew2002/ (last modified May 24, 2002).
7 Council Directive 89/391, 1989 O.J. (L 183) [hereinafter Safety & Health Framework Directive]; European Commission, Anti-Discrimination, Fundamental Social Rights, and Civil Society, Frequently Asked Questions, at http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/
fundamental_rights/faq/faq7_en.htm (last visited May 2, 2004) [hereinafter EU Mobbing FAQs]; see Bullying at Work, supra note 1, at 27–28.
8 See Vogel, supra note 1, at 20, 22–23.
9 Id. at 22.
10 Id. (referred to in this source as the Modernization of Employment Act).
11 See generally Marie-France Hirigoyen, Stalking the Soul: Emotional Abuse and the Erosion of Identity (Helen Marx trans., Helen Marx Books 2000) (1998) [hereinafter Stalking the Soul]. The English translation of Hirigoyen’s book refers to moral harassment as “emotional abuse”; however, “moral harassment” is a more accurate translation of the French “harcèlement moral,” which is used in the title of the original work: Marie-France Hirigoyen, Le harcèlement moral, la violence perverse au quotidien (1998). See also generally Heinz Leymann, The Content and Development of Mobbing at Work, 5 Eur. J. Work & Organizational Psychol. 165, 165, 183 (1996) (citing Leymann’s first study co-authored with B. Gustavsson and published by the Swedish National Board of Occupational Safety and Health in 1984, Psykiskt våld i arbetslivet. Två explorativa undersökningar, translated in this source as Psychological Violence at Work Places. Two Explorative Studies). Note that much of the information in Leymann’s article is available at http://www.leymann.se/ (last visited May 2, 2004). For a counterpart to these psychological studies that has been published in the United States, with a foreword by Heinz Leymann, see Noa Davenport et al., Mobbing: Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace (1999).
12 See generally Bullying at Work, supra note 1, at 6–7 (a European Parliament document citing and quoting Leymann and Hirigoyen). Indeed, there is awareness about moral harassment even in countries without any specific legislation. See Gabrielle S. Friedman & James Q. Whitman, The European Transformation of Harassment Law: Discrimination Versus Dignity, 9 Colum. J. Eur. L. 241, 248 & n.25, 254–59 (2003) (noting that, although German law does not specifically define moral harassment, German legal scholars have included it under laws protecting the “right of personality,” German attorneys have begun to advise clients on moral harassment matters, and there is much discussion about moral harassment in the German media).
13 Vogel, supra note 1, at 23; Pep Espluga, Court Rulings Recognise Bullying as “Occupational Risk,” Eironline, July 23, 2002, at http://www.eiro.eurofound.ie/2002/07/Feature/
ES0207202F.html; Marc Feyereisen, First Collective Agreement Signed on Moral/Psychological Harassment, Eironline, May 28, 2001, at http://www.eiro.eurofound.ie/2001/05/InBrief/
LU0105166N.html.
14 Vogel, supra note 1, at 25 (discussing the United Kingdom’s draft legislation, the Dignity at Work Bill, which would advise employers to establish policies against moral harassment in consultation with union and safety representatives). The Dignity at Work Bill was introduced in the House of Lords on December 1, 2001. United Kingdom Parliament, Dignity at Work Bill [HL], at http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld200102/ldbills/
031/2002031.htm (Dec. 4, 2001).
15 See Bullying at Work, supra note 1, at 28.
16 Davenport et al., supra note 11, at 21; Leymann, supra note 11, at 165, 167.
17 Leymann, supra note 11, at 168.
18 The Mobbing Encyclopedia (Homepage of Dr. Heinz Leymann), The Definition of Mobbing at Workplaces, at http://www.leymann.se/English/12100E.HTM (last visited May 2, 2004) (emphasis in original) [hereinafter Leymann, Mobbing Definition].
19 See id.
20 Davenport et al., supra note 11, at 34–37; Leymann, supra note 11, at 170.
21 Leymann, supra note 11, at 168, 171.
22 Id. at 168.
23 The Mobbing Encyclopedia (Homepage of Dr. Heinz Leymann), Frequently Asked Questions, at http://www.leymann.se/English/00005E.HTM (last visited May 2, 2004) [hereinafter Leymann, FAQs].
24 Id.
25 The Mobbing Encyclopedia (Homepage of Dr. Heinz Leymann), Mobbing—Its Course Over Time, at http://www.leymann.se/English/12220E.HTM (last visited May 2, 2004).
26 Leymann, FAQs, supra note 23.
27 Leymann, supra note 11, at 179–80.
28 Id. at 180.
29 Id.
30 Id.
31 See id.
32 Le harcèlement moral, Interview de Marie-France Hirigoyen, psychiatre, psychanalyste, Alternative Santé—L’Impatient, Oct. 1999, http://www.medecines-douces.com/impa-
tient/ 260oct99/interv.htm.
33 These terms were added to Hirigoyen’s definition in a more recent work. Marie-France Hirigoyen, Malaise dans le travail: Harcèlement moral, démêler le vrai du faux 13 (2001) [hereinafter Discomfort at Work].
34 Stalking the Soul, supra note 11, at 52.
35 Id. at 56–61.
36 Discomfort at Work, supra note 33, at 26–27.
37 Id. at 15.
38 Id. at 15–17.
39 Id.
40 Id.
41 Discomfort at Work, supra note 33, at 18.
42 Id. at 17.
43 Id. at 19–22.
44 Id. at 22.
45 Id.
46 Discomfort at Work, supra note 33, at 23–24.
47 Id. at 27.
48 Id. at 28.
49 See id. at 24; Leymann, Mobbing Definition, supra note 18.
50 Discomfort at Work, supra note 33, at 24.
51 Id. at 25.
52 Id.
53 Id.
54 Cabinet Ravisy-Yakovlev & Associés, Three Wage Earners Out of Ten Are Victims of Psychological Harassment at Work, at http://perso.club-internet.fr/lextel/anglais/harmor/
IPSOS.html (last visited May 2, 2004). The official survey results are available at http://
www.ipsos.fr/.
55 Id.
56 Id.
57 Id.
58 Discomfort at Work, supra note 33, at 265–66.
59 Id.
60 Id. at 266.
61 Id. at 272–74.
62 Vogel, supra note 1, at 22.
63 Ordinance of the Swedish National Board of Occupational Safety and Health Containing Provisions on Measures Against Victimization at Work, Ordinance AFS 1993:17, § 1 (adopted Sept. 21, 1993, entered into force Mar. 31, 1994), http://www.av.se/english/
legislation/afs/eng9317.pdf [hereinafter Ordinance on Victimization at Work].
64 Id. §§ 2–3.
65 Id. § 4.
66 Id. § 5.
67 Id. § 6.
68 General Recommendations of the Swedish National Board of Occupational Safety and Health on the Implementation of the Provisions on Measures Against Victimization at Work, in Ordinance on Victimization at Work, supra note 63, at 5.
69 Id.
70 Id.
71 Id. at 6–7.
72 See generally Ordinance on Victimization at Work, supra note 63.
73 See Olivier Truc, La Suède, pionnier européen, Libération, Sept. 13, 1999, http://www.
liberation.com/travail/thema/spec990913/art7.html.
74 Id.
75 Leymann, supra note 11, at 179.
76 See Indiska Magasinet’s Codes of Conduct, http://www.somo.nl/monitoring/reports/
indiska-coc.htm (last visited May 2, 2004) [hereinafter Indiska Codes of Conduct]; Uppsala Universitet, An Action Programme Against Victimization at Work, at http://www.arbmilj.
uadm.uu.se/victimization.html (last modified July 1, 2002) [hereinafter Uppsala Action Programme].
77 Uppsala Action Programme, supra note 76.
78 Id.
79 Indiska Codes of Conduct, supra note 76; Indiska Website, at http://www.in-
diska.com/eng/ (last visited May 2, 2004).
80 See Cabinet Ravisy-Yakovlev & Associés, Quelques décisions de jurisprudence pouvant être utilisées dans les affaires de harcèlement, at http://perso.club-internet.fr/lextel/juris-
prudence/jurisprudence.html (last visited May 2, 2004).
81 The French Supreme Court is divided into chambers (formerly called “sections”), and it is the Labor Chamber (or Section) that hears cases such as those cited. The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation 259 (Columbia Law Review Ass’n et al. eds., 17th ed. 2000).
82 Cabinet Ravisy-Yakovlev & Associés, Décisions les plus anciennes, at http://
perso.club-internet.fr/lextel/jurisprudence/ancien.html (last visited May 2, 2004).
83 Id.
84 See Davenport et al., supra note 11, at 37; Discomfort at Work, supra note 33, at 15–17; Leymann, supra note 11, at 170.
85 See, e.g., CA Pau, ch. soc., Feb. 15, 1999, http://perso.club-internet.fr/lextel/jurispru-
dence/girardappel.html [hereinafter CA Pau]; Conseil de Prud’hommes Paris, Dec. 15, 1999, http://perso.club-internet.fr/lextel/jurisprudence/Billaux.html [hereinafter CP Paris].
86 CA Pau, supra note 85.
87 Id.
88 Id.
89 CP Paris, supra note 85.
90 Id.
91 Davenport et al., supra note 11, at 36–37; Discomfort at Work, supra note 33, at 17; Leymann, supra note 11, at 170.
92 See Trib. aff. séc. soc. Vosges, Feb. 28, 2000, http://perso.club-internet.fr/lextel/jur-
isprudence/rousseauxpremier.html.
93 Id.
94 Id.
95 See generally T.G.I. La Roche sur Yon, Feb. 26, 2001, http://perso.club-internet.fr/
lextel/jurisprudence/bonnet.html.
96 Id.
97 Id.
98 See, e.g., Dépêche AFP, Grève à la CCI Vendée: le directeur accusé de “harcèlement moral” (Apr. 3, 2000), at http://www.hmstop.com/Articles/Article19.htm [hereinafter CCI Strike]; Dépêche AFP, Harcèlement moral: la grève se poursuit dans une entreprise de luminaires (Mar. 17, 2000), at http://www.hmstop.com/Articles/Article18.htm [hereinafter Eclatec Strike].
99 Eclatec Strike, supra note 98.
100 CCI Strike, supra note 98.
101 See, e.g., Trib. aff. séc. soc. Vosges, supra note 92; Eclatec Strike, supra note 98.
102 Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité, Dossier, Loi de modernisation sociale, at http://www.inrs.fr/ (last updated Jan. 29, 2002).
103 Code du travail [C. trav.] art. L. 122–49 (Fr.), http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr (last visited May 2, 2004) (“Aucun salarié ne doit subir les agissements répétés de harcèlement moral qui ont pour objet ou pour effet une dégradation des conditions de travail susceptible de porter atteinte à ses droits et à sa dignité, d'altérer sa santé physique ou mentale ou de compromettre son avenir professionnel.”).
104 Id. art. L. 152–1–1; Code pénal [C. pén.] art. 222–33–2 (Fr.), http://www.
legifrance.gouv.fr (last visited May 2, 2004). In the criminal context, it must be noted that, in Article 121–3, the Criminal Code requires intent for all crimes. M. Graser et al., Legislative Recognition in France of Psychological Harassment at Work, 22 Med. & L. 239, 242–43 (2003). Graser et al. also point out the inconsistency between penalties provided under the Labor and Penal Codes. Id. at 274.
105 C. trav. art. L. 122–49.
106 Id.
107 Id. arts. L. 122–50, L. 122–54. For a brief description of the mediation procedure provided by Article L. 122–54 of the Labor Code, see Graser et al., supra note 104, at 245–46.
108 C. trav. art. L. 122–51.
109 Id. art. L. 122–52.
110 Id. Interestingly, the burden on the employee presented here was recently modified in January 2003; while the original version provided that the employee only had to present the elements of moral harassment, this phrase in Article 122–52 was modified from “present” to “establish,” in order to more evenly distribute the burden of proof between the employer and employee. EmploiCenter, Les députés modèrent le “harcèlement moral,” at http://
emploi.journaldunet.com/php/publication/publication.php?i=1314 (Dec. 9, 2002).
111 C. trav. art. L. 122–52.
112 Id.
113 EmploiCenter, Harcèlement moral chez CanalNumedia: relaxe de l’ancien PDG, at http://emploi.journaldunet.com/magazine/1290/ (Oct. 28, 2002) [hereinafter Canal Numedia]; Le Web de l’Humanité, Le harcèlement moral au tribunal, at http://www.
humanite.presse.fr/journal/2002-07-16/2002-07-16-37215 (July 16, 2002) [hereinafter Moral Harassment at Trial].
114 Canal Numedia, supra note 113; Moral Harassment at Trial, supra note 113.
115 Canal Numedia, supra note 113; Moral Harassment at Trial, supra note 113.
116 Canal Numedia, supra note 113; Moral Harassment at Trial, supra note 113.
117 Canal Numedia, supra note 113; Moral Harassment at Trial, supra note 113.
118 Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, art. 31, 2000 O.J. (C 364), http://www.europarl.eu.int/charter/pdf/text_en.pdf; Adapting to Change in Work and Society: A New Community Strategy on Health and Safety at Work 2002–2006: Communication from the Commission, COM(2002)118 final at 4–5, http://europe.osha.eu.int/sys-
tems/strategies/future/com2002_en.pdf.
119 Safety & Health Framework Directive, supra note 7; EU Mobbing FAQs, supra note 7.
120 Safety & Health Framework Directive, supra note 7, art. 5.
121 Id. arts. 1, 5–6, 8–9, 12.
122 See generally Bullying at Work, supra note 1, at 27.
123 Harassment at the Workplace, supra note 3, at 7.
124 See id.
125 See, e.g., Safety & Health Framework Directive, supra note 7, arts. 6, 13; Leymann, Mobbing Definition, supra note 18.
126 Safety & Health Framework Directive, supra note 7, art. 6.
127 See generally Safety & Health Framework Directive, supra note 7, art. 6; Leymann, Mobbing Definition, supra note 18.
128 See generally Safety & Health Framework Directive, supra note 7, art. 6; Leymann, Mobbing Definition, supra note 18.
129 Leymann, Mobbing Definition, supra note 18.
130 See generally Safety & Health Framework Directive, supra note 7, art. 6; Leymann, Mobbing Definition, supra note 18.
131 Safety & Health Framework Directive, supra note 7, art. 13; see Stalking the Soul, supra note 11, at 52; Leymann, Mobbing Definition, supra note 18.
132 See Safety & Health Framework Directive, supra note 7, art. 13; Stalking the Soul, supra note 11, at 52; Leymann, Mobbing Definition, supra note 18.
133 See Safety & Health Framework Directive, supra note 7, art. 13; Stalking the Soul, supra note 11, at 52; Leymann, Mobbing Definition, supra note 18.
134 See generally Safety & Health Framework Directive, supra note 7, art. 13; Stalking the Soul, supra note 11, at 52; Leymann, Mobbing Definition, supra note 18.
135 See generally Council Directive 2002/73, art. 2, 2002 O.J. (L 269) (defining “harassment” and “sexual harassment”).
136 See Discomfort at Work, supra note 33, at 13, 24–26; Leymann, Mobbing Definition, supra note 18.
137 See Harris v. Forklift Sys., 510 U.S. 17, 21 (1993) (emphasis added; internal quotation marks and citations omitted); Yamada, supra note 1, at 509. For a discussion on the differences between U.S. and continental European definitions of “harassment,” see Friedman & Whitman, supra note 12, at 243–46, 265–70 (observing that, while U.S. harassment laws, including those on sexual harassment, focus on discrimination or equality, European laws tend to focus on the notion of dignity). Friedman & Whitman also note that the U.S. focus on discrimination makes sense given that the United States has a system of at-will employment. Id. at 266–67. In European countries, where employment relationships are more long-term, broader human rights issues, and thus dignity, are very important in the workplace. Id. at 267. In the United States, however, where employees change jobs frequently, the emphasis is more on employees “being given a fair chance to move on [to another job] or to move up [at their current place of employment].” Id.
138 See C. trav. art. L. 122–49; Ordinance on Victimization at Work, supra note 63, § 1; Harris, 510 U.S. at 21.
139 Harris, 510 U.S. at 21; see Leymann, Mobbing Definition, supra note 18.
140 Discomfort at Work, supra note 33, at 24–25.
141 See id.
142 See C. trav. art. L. 122–49.
143 See Ordinance on Victimization at Work, supra note 63, § 1.
144 See id.; C. trav. art. L. 122–49; Discomfort at Work, supra note 33, at 24–25; Leymann, Mobbing Definition, supra note 18.
145 Bullying at Work, supra note 1, at 27.
146 Council Directive 89/654, art. 1, 1989 O.J. (L 393) [hereinafter Workplace Directive]; Safety & Health Framework Directive, supra note 7, art. 16, annex; Bullying at Work, supra note 1, at 27.
147 Workplace Directive, supra note 146, art. 1, annex.
148 See Bullying at Work, supra note 1, at 25–26; Discomfort at Work, supra note 33, at 265–68; Leymann, supra note 11, at 179–80.
149 See Bullying at Work, supra note 1, at 25–26; Discomfort at Work, supra note 33, at 265–68; Leymann, supra note 11, at 179–80.
150 See generally Discomfort at Work, supra note 33; Leymann, supra note 11.
151 See Council Directive 2000/78, arts. 9–14, 17, 2000 O.J. (L 303) [hereinafter General Equal Treatment Directive]; Council Directive 2000/43, arts. 7–12, 15, 2000 O.J. (L 180) [hereinafter Racial & Ethnic Origin Directive]; Bullying at Work, supra note 1, at 27.
152 General Equal Treatment Directive, supra note 151, art. 10; Racial & Ethnic Origin Directive, supra note 151, art. 8.
153 See C. trav. art. L. 122–52.
154 See supra text accompanying note 110.
155 General Equal Treatment Directive, supra note 151, art. 17; Racial & Ethnic Origin Directive, supra note 151, art. 15.
156 See C. pén. art. 222–33–2; C. trav. art. L. 152–1–1; Ordinance on Victimization at Work, supra note 63.
157 See generally Ordinance on Victimization at Work, supra note 63; Truc, supra note 73.
158 See General Equal Treatment Directive, supra note 151, art. 12; see also Racial & Ethnic Origin Directive, supra note 151, art. 10 (including an almost identical provision without the words “for example at the workplace”).
159 See Discomfort at Work, supra note 33, at 266; Leymann, supra note 11, at 180.
160 See Discomfort at Work, supra note 33, at 266–67.
161 General Equal Treatment Directive, supra note 151, art. 13; see also Racial & Ethnic Origin Directive, supra note 151, art. 11 (including an almost identical provision).
162 General Equal Treatment Directive, supra note 151, art. 14; Racial & Ethnic Origin Directive, supra note 151, art. 12.
163 Discomfort at Work, supra note 33, at 266–67.
164 See id.