Several workplace bullying-related cases have resulted in lawsuits and judgments:

Microsoft

In 2014, Microsoft Corp. was ordered to pay $2 million in damages in a defamation, sexual harassment and racial discrimination lawsuit in Michael Mercieca v. Microsoft Corp. A Texas judge found the technology company guilty of creating a hostile work environment. Mr. Mercieca was a former sales person who accused employees and supervisors at the company of undermining his work, falsely accusing him of sexual harassment, falsely accusing him of expense account fraud and blocking his promotions. Mr. Mercieca is Japanese-American and experienced racism from managers, according to the suit. Mr. Mercieca alleged in the lawsuit that he had been “subjected to a lot of harassment, bullying, and retaliation.” In 2016, the Texas Court of Appeals, 14th District in Houston overturned this decision, siding with Microsoft.

Caltrans

In 2017, the California Department of Transportation was ordered by the California Superior Court in John R. Barrie v. State of California to pay $3 million to Mr. Barrie in a disability accommodation lawsuit. Mr. Barrie, a staff services analyst at Caltrans, claimed that his supervisors intentionally triggered his allergies by exposing him to chemicals including cleaning solutions and perfumes. In 2005, when Mr. Barrie began working at the department, his allergies were accommodated by his then-supervisor. But when a new supervisor took over in 2010, the accommodations did not continue, and after filing an internal complaint he was asked to perform a job that he viewed as a demotion. The department’s human resources representative found that perfumes and cleaning chemicals had been sprayed in Mr. Barrie’s office.

Tesla

In 2017, Tesla Inc. was subject to a class action lawsuit claiming that the auto manufacturer created an intimidating, hostile and offensive work environment for African-American employees that included a routine use of racial slurs. Vaughn v. Tesla Inc. was filed in California Superior Court in Oakland on behalf of a class of African-American employees at the company’s Fremont, California factory. The case is pending.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

In 2016, Onalis Giunta, a supervising dental assistant at Folsom State Prison, was awarded $1.1 million in Onalis Giunta v. State of California, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Ms. Giunta claimed that when she was promoted, a former co-worker did not respect her authority and was coddled by two male supervisors. After disciplinary action, the employee threatened to bring a gun to work. He received no punishment for these threats. Ms. Giunta said that she was told she needed to return to work with the employee or resign after returning to work due to stress-related time off. She eventually transferred to another facility, taking a demotion. Corrections officials claimed that Ms. Giunta was not unsafe at Folsom. A Sacramento jury disagreed.