Workplace Bullying Investigations

• Repeated insults, ridicule, or humiliation.
• Deliberate exclusion from meetings, communications, or team activities. 
• Undermining an employee’s work or withholding key information. 
• Threatening gestures, aggressive tone, or intimidation tactics. 
• Spreading damaging rumors or falsehoods. 
• Assigning impossible workloads or setting up failure scenarios.
   

Not all conflicts rise to the level of bullying. Performance management, disciplinary actions, or legitimate workplace expectations are not bullying when applied consistently. A key factor is whether the behavior is repeated, targeted, and intended to demean or isolate.

• Pattern of Conduct: Isolated events versus repeated, targeted behaviors. 
• Impact: Evidence of intimidation, stress, exclusion, or disruption. 
• Credibility: Consistency of testimony, corroboration, and supporting documents. 
• Motive: Whether behaviors were designed to undermine or retaliate. 
• Overlap With Harassment/Retaliation: Bullying that implicates protected categories or protected activities raises additional legal exposure.
   

• Witness interviews across teams and reporting lines. 
• Emails, chat logs, and digital communications. 
• Calendar entries, meeting notes, or project documentation. 
• Prior HR complaints or disciplinary records. 
• Performance reviews before and after reported bullying.

We clarify the allegations, the timeframe, and individuals involved. We assess immediate safety or operational concerns and design a process that protects confidentiality while ensuring fairness.

We preserve digital and documentary records, identify witnesses, and gather communications that may reveal bullying patterns.

We conduct structured, impartial interviews with the complainant, accused employee(s), witnesses, and management. Each interview is documented, with credibility assessed consistently across all parties.

We evaluate whether conduct meets the definition of bullying, whether it crosses into harassment or retaliation, and the extent of impact on workplace culture. Findings are presented in a detailed, defensible report.

We recommend remedial steps tailored to the situation. These may include coaching, reassignment, training, policy reinforcement, or discipline.

• The accused employee is a manager, HR, or senior leader. 
• Multiple employees report similar behavior. 
• Complaints suggest systemic issues affecting culture. 
• Prior attempts to resolve the issue internally have failed. 
• The organization faces legal, reputational, or safety risks if the matter is mishandled.