Occasionally raising one’s voice at an employee does not constitute mobbing
The Szczecin-Centrum District Court has found that speaking sporadically to employees merely in a raised tone of voice does not constitute mobbing. For a specific behaviour to be regarded as mobbing, it must involve persistent and prolonged harassment or intimidation, cause the employees to doubt their own professional suitability, cause or intend humiliation or ridicule to those persons and to isolate or eliminate them from their team of colleagues at work. Nonetheless, any assessment of whether mobbing has occurred must be based on objective criteria.
The case concerned a former employee of a tailoring shop who was seeking compensation and redress for mobbing. She justified her claims on the grounds that her supervisor had allegedly shouted at her and used vulgarities to humiliate and intimidate her. The claimant also alleged that the workplace had failed to comply with H&S regulations and other labour laws. These circumstances were alleged to have caused harm to the employee’s health. Nevertheless, during the proceedings, most of the allegations were shown to be untrue and that the supervisor had only occasionally raised her voice and this was not aimed directly and exclusively at the claimant, nor was it intended to ridicule or humiliate her. The court further found that the claimant’s actions were the result of a grudge against the employer, who had made a mistake in the past on her certificate of earnings, as a result of which the employee had not received a council apartment.
The judgment may be reviewed on the portal of judgments.