It was a privilege to speak alongside Christine and Huey Hien on a Panel on “Workplace Bullying and Harassment” at Law Society’s Annual CPD Day on Monday November 4th.

In my view, ensuring a positive workplace culture is not only vital to attraction and retention of talent, it is also crucial from a legal standpoint. I recently acted in an employment dispute defending a tech company against allegations of workplace bullying by a former employee. The Court agreed with us that workplace bullying is not currently recognised as an independent cause of action and struck that claim out, but left open the legal question of whether employers have a duty of care to protect the mental wellbeing of their employees to trial.

Although these aspects did not surface in our case, a former employee could also argue an implied term under the contract for a safe workplace free from bullying and harassment. An employee who is compelled to resign due to workplace issues could also mount a case of constructive dismissal, if the circumstances are established.

Bottomline is that a happy and healthy workplace is not just the right thing to do from an ethics perspective, but also from a legal liability standpoint.

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